We’ve had two slow days at sea.  I sat on the balcony reading for an hour or so yesterday.  With the sun out and the temperature around 50, it made for a pleasant afternoon.  Our balcony is larger than ones we’ve had recently so I wanted to take advantage of it.  Other than stepping outside a few times to look at the waves and search for Northern Lights, the balcony has remained unused until today.  

We had dinner tonight in the specialty restaurant, Sabatini’s.  Food was a step above the fare in the dining room.  Our service there has been top-notch, but the food’s been disappointing — not up to previous standards, in my opinion. It’s okay, but the meat is not high quality, occasionally tough and gristly, and the sauces for it seem to be the same on a number of dishes.  Still, I didn’t have to cook it or clean up the mess, so I enjoyed it.  

The maitre d’ at Sabatini’s stopped by our table to chat while we were perusing the dessert menu.  I told him that I couldn’t remember what zabaglione was.  He tried to describe it, but once he started with the first ingredient of raw eggs, I decided to pass and ordered the Chocolate Journeys treat with chocolate, hazelnuts, and ice cream.  Not long after the waiter brought the desserts, the maitre d’ was back with a serving of zabaglione.  Delicious.  And the chocolate was delicious, too.  Zabaglione is a sweet, creamy, pudding-like dessert made with whipped raw egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala wine.  

Tomorrow, this cruise comes to an end, and we’ll fly to Dublin for few nights of Irish fun.