(photos from website: www.odysseycruises.com )
On Sunday, I got a surprise. I was planning to meet up with my friend Christine L. We hadn't seen each other since our brunch outing during the winter. I was pretty excited.
We had not set a time but we had tentative plans. Well it turned outo be a fun night and very cool indeed.
We went on the ODYSSEY Boat right for three hours she got the birthday package. She originally was supposed to go with her handsome husband as his bday just passed, but he suddenly got ill. But if she did not go on the cruise, she would not get her money back. I was the lucky friend to go with her.
As usual, we had a great time! The day was cloudy and rainy in Boston (temps in 50) a change from the sunny muggy days from the previous week. The boat was nice and our server was Brian. He was very attentive and eager. He started out giving us our complimentary white sangria. I think the combination of moving boat, alcohol (on an empty stomach) definitely not a good combo. The weather cleared up and we had a nice cruise around the Boston Harbor. Even got to hear the USS Constitution shoot some cannons too!
The live band did a good job entertaining the guests all night with music classics (you would hear in the elevator or call "oldies but goodies".
We started with this appetizer (only choice other than the $15 upgrade for Seafood Martini which we bypassed) in favor of the Tasting Trio Red Tomato Crisp filled with Nova Lox Mousse and Mujj'ol Caviar Striped European Cucumber topped with Whipped Basil Feta Cheese Spicy Black Bean Tostada with Santa-Fe Smoked Chicken Salad . The flavors were simple but nice. Very cute presentation and we had a lovely view (we were facing out to the water from the rear of the boat. The boat was not full of people but there were enough to fill out the all the areas with windows. Various groups were celebrating for various reasons---bdays, graduations and anniversaries to name a few.
Then we headed into choosing these are our two first course selections--
Roasted Duck Confit Slow Cooked Duck with Natural Juices and Aged Tawny Port served atop a Double Ripe Plantain Torte and relished with Dried Island Fruits and Candied Walnuts and I got the Corn Chowder Gulf Coast Blue Crab and Tender Sweet Corn simmered with Yukon-Gold Potatoes and Chipotle Pepper Cream . Both were very good. I thought the fruit and walnuts coupled with the Duck Confit a very interesting combination. I enjoyed the Corn Chowder but I cannot say I could make out the chipotle pepper cream but the flavors were nice.
My friend got the Braised Short Ribs served Boneless with White Truffle Mashed Potatoes, Garlic . She decided not to get the tiny pot of bleu cheese (cheese is not a fave of hers). I got the Spinach and a Seafood Ravioli Gratinee Ravioli Pasta stuffed with Shrimp, Scallops and Crab finished au gratin with Reggiano Parmigiano Cheese and Spicy Tomato Puree. It was good lot of cheese and a very healthy portion for both of us. So big that my friend could only finish half of her food. I took my time but savored the seafood and pasta ravioli. I guess the seafood and pasta drew my eyes after coming back from Southern Italy.
We were served a cute bday cake. It was nice simple frosting decorated with blueberries and raspberries. We had two slices and had to pack up the rest. But we could not resist ordering the Chocolate bread pudding---vanilla bean ice cream, banana chips, chocolate bread pudding with anglaise sauce.
It was a belated celebration for our bdays (happened in March) and I got a lovely necklace from her. I was told to dress up. So we both wore dresses and heels for the cruise. I found a new dress and new shoes to wear (I spent a lot of time sitting down as I am trying to break in the new shoes.).
After we got off the boat, we liked our pic that was taken before we got on and we were offered strawberries dipped in chocolate as a final farewell.
Everyone from the ticket counter to bus boy were great and attentative to us.
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Also on Sunday, I saw at the MFA an encore presentation from the past Jewish Film Festival a Hungarian film called FATELESS. It was a strong movie about a young man's experience in the concentration camps during WWII. Well done and heart wrenching as well as gripping the film clocked over 2 hours and 20 minutes. Daniel Craig (the new James Bond) does a cameo at the end. This movie is based on a true story. There are more showings of this film left--go to http://www.mfa.org/ and then look for the Film Calendar. It is a must see! Not an easy movie to watch but superbly well done.
---------product review below from http://www.amazon.com/ (photo from Amazon too)
Product DescriptionDon’t miss this unforgettable story of a child who had the courage to come home.
Set in 1944, as Hitler’s Final Solution becomes policy throughout Europe, Fateless is the semi-autobiographical tale of a 14 year-old Jewish boy from Budapest, who finds himself swept up by cataclysmic events beyond his comprehension. A perfectly normal metropolitan teen who has never felt particularly connected to his religion, he is suddenly separated from his family as part of the rushed and random deportation of his city’s large Jewish population. Brought to a concentration camp, his existence becomes a surreal adventure in adversity and adaptation, and he is never quite sure if he is the victim of his captors, or of an absurd destiny that metes out salvation and suffering arbitrarily. When he returns home after the liberation, he missed the sense of community he experienced in the camps, feeling alienated from both his Christian neighbors who turned a blind eye to his fate, and the Jewish family friends who avoided deportation and who now want to put the war behind them.
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