VIKING really, really, knows how to throw a party!
On June 2, 2023 the newest ship in VIKING’s impressive line-up of 100+ ships was named VIKING Saturn ata ceremony held at Pier 88 on New York City’s Hudson River. During the party, raconteur Chairman Torstein Hagen charmingly recounted the company’s history that he started 25 years ago with his partner “just 2 guys with 2 mobile phones.”
Due to his warm sense of humor and Norse background – along with a strong personal commitment and hands-on approach – he is playfully referred to as Thor – Norse god of thunder.
Thor, a graduate of Harvard’s Business School, turned a start up cruise line in just 25 shorts years into one of the top rated cruise lines in the world. Both Travel & Leisure and Condé Nast rate VIKING in the top five world-wide cruise line companies… a remarkable achievement.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
VIKING began as Viking River Cruises plying European waterways with Longships specifically engineered for river cruising. By 2015 Ocean going ships were added to the line and the company was renamed Viking Cruises to incorporate its expanded range.
By 2020 “Cruises” was dropped from the company logo when expedition ships visiting Antarctic waters were launched and most recently the Mississippi was added to the destination venues. VIKING now explores all seven continents fulfilling Thor’s commitment to make the destination the focus of a cruise with the ships being “the vehicle that enables curious travelers to explore in an elegant and comfortable home base from which they can discover the destination.”
His “Exploring the world in comfort” tagline flies in the face of the mainstream cruise industry where the thought is “bigger is better” and the ships are small cities making them, not the destinations, the focus.
As a lover of travel and exploring and learning about new destinations with like-minded people sharing experiences over fine meals and in intimate lounges contusive to conversation, I could not agree more with Thor’s point of view. Having taken several VIKING cruises, with hopefully more to come, I relish the experiences I’ve had and the friends I’ve made.
And as Thor revealed at the party, he is by no means done. Ever forward thinking he has his sights set on the Asian market and is currently offering cruises dedicated to Chinese clientele with Mandarin speaking crews serving Chinese food.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
Thor is the face and driving force behind VIKING. His concept of “homey floating vacation homes away from home” dictates the residential, functional and comfortable design standardized in all ships. He revolutionized the standardized pointed front bow of river cruising Longships into a squarish bow for larger stateroom capacity to offer some of the largest cabins available in the industry.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
The beautifully appointed Saturn has the latest upgrades in detailing but in keeping with Chairman Hagen’s philosophy for the company, itsdesign, décor and footprint is similar to all the other ships of the line.
Scandinavian design with its clean lines, colorful woven textiles and abundant use of wood pay homage to Viking’s Nordic heritage and strong connection to the natural world. Continuity is key to making guests feel comfortable and at home in familiar settings which accounts in great part for the company’s repeat clientele and award winning style.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
And while VIKING does not consider itself the top in luxury, the ships all exhibit the bells and whistles necessary for the complete comfort of their guests. All staterooms have balconies – no inside rooms that limit the enjoyment of the passing scenery on a VIKING ship.
The staterooms are compact but large enough to include a desktop for a personal computer that converts into a make-up mirror/dressing table that handily contains a set of binoculars for use onboard to help tune into far away details while relaxing on your private balcony or during off-ship excursions. There is lots of storage space; a king sized bed for optimal sleeping; a seating area with a couch for relaxing in the comfort of your stateroom.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
The bathroom is sufficiently large with drawers and hooks, fluffy towels and Freyja Collection amenity package. And best of all is the warm welcoming smiles of the crew and staff all Swiss-trained and employed by Viking. There is a genuine desire to please and insure that all guests get personal attention to their needs and expectations. The crew to guest ration is impressive, insuring sterling attention to passenger’s individual desires.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
Back at the party and in keeping with VIKING’s copious hospitality, food and drink was plentiful and constant. After pass-around bits and drinks and Thor’s welcoming comments, the crowd gathered on deck to watch as ceremonial Godmother Ann Ziff, chairman of the Metropolitan Opera and dedicated philanthropist, christened the Saturn with Aquavit, instead of the traditional Champaign bottle broken over the hull.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
After a delicious and leisurely dinner we returned on deck to be entertained against a glorious New York City skyline.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
VIKING has had a long term cultural partner with Ms. Ziff and the Metropolitan Opera and on this special evening guests were treated to a concert by Tor Jaran Apold, Violinist and three gifted singers from the Met: Susanna Phillips, Soprano; Charles Castronovo, Tenor; and Quinn Kelsey, Baritone.Jonathan Kelly was at the piano and Daniell Wurtzel on Air Fountain. The formal evening ended with guests returning to their cabins for a blissful night with dreams of future adventures.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
In the morning after a bountiful breakfast we departed the Saturn as it readied to receive guests and depart New York City for a journey of discovery.
Your Poop has a tale to tell! From the dawn of mankind until our Sun no longer shines upon us, there is one thing that we all have in common… we poop. The Musée de la civilization in Quebec, Canadahas taken the scintillating topic of defecation and mounted an exhibition that is amusing, educational, and interactive… and with far reaching implications for humanity.
Conceived, created and produced by the museum, the exhibit immediately gets your attention with this shocking opening statement “Feces, excrement, turd, dung, caca, dump, stool, shit, defecation, bowel movement or crap… Call it what you will, poop is a taboo and misunderstood topic”.
The far-reaching exhibition is entitled “OH SHIT” and it tells the story of how our views regarding this unmentionable (in polite company) bodily function has changed throughout the ages in often funny and vulgar sketches and drawings… but then it gets down to serious “shit”. It graphically displays what our excrement can tell us about our state of health in a series of toilets that while nasty to look at, helps us to understand what we need to be aware of during our daily release of waste product. It offers an opportunity to do a smell test with a series of small hand-held cubes that serve the same purpose and a room to contribute your own effluvia should you so desire. I admit I shied away from engaging with either display, but was amused to watch a group of fashionably dressed young women approach the nose test and react with the anticipated dance of revulsion.
Roman toilet photo courtesy François Ozan, Icône
Did you know that ancient Romans sat next to each other over holes cut out of marble platforms to conduct business while “doing their business”? A channel with running water underneath removed the waste products. Did you know that in many places in the world defecating in the street is the only option and waste becomes part of the decaying matter contributing to contaminated soil and water and disease in the human population? Did you know that in certain cultures eating with the left hand is completely taboo? This is a good thing since the left hand is used to clean one’s bottom after defecating and without access to sanitary measures, mixing up the hands could lead to serious medical complications.
Photo by Barbara Angelakis
There is a hall dedicated to educating children in a fun and non-threatening way where they can play interactive games that teach them how to understand their bodily functions and to use proper hygiene.
An impressive committee including scientists in microbiology, immunology, sanitation, micro biota, and other resource recovery and reclamation experts contributed their knowledge of human waste and its management to this exhibit. And their view is to recognize that poop can be a resource instead of a contaminating waste product. Addressed are the environmental and societal issues that continuing to pollute the earth with our untreated dejecta will lead to.
Photo by Barbara Angelakis
As an example of forward thinking is the award winning new-age toilet resulting from the Reinvent the Toilet challenge that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched in 2018. The competition to invent a non-sewered sanitation solution for developing nations is crucial to the health and dignity of millions of poor people around the world.
It’s too late to catch this exhibit at the Musée de la civilization but it will soon be on display in a number of cities in the U.S. so watch out for it and don’t miss the opportunity to visit this creative exposition on human dejecta and its reclamation from a taboo subject to a valuable sustainable resource.
Photo by Barbara Angelakis
“This is Our Story” is another of the museum’s exhibits, this one will run until January 1, 2030, and is a stunning look into 12,500 years of history of the eleven Aboriginal nations living in Québec. In beautiful imagery and sound it graphically details the people’s interrelationship with nature and each other and the manner in which the several groups individually developed. Displays of original sacred and everyday items add to the story of cultural differences between the tribes. While there were periods of conflict between tribes there were also long stretches of peaceful cooperation and exchange of information.
Photo by Barbara Angelakis
The exhibit does not shy away from the 400 year of cultural genocide and repression of First Nations peoples and the shameful way in which Canadians of European descent tried to assimilate them by forcibly removing children from their families and putting them in the Christian ran residential school system. Families that resisted giving up their children were denied basic survival needs and often imprisoned. The children were not allowed to speak their language and were denied access to their families and culture which caused life-long damage to indigenous peoples and their tribal development. Many children suffered abuse and even death at the hands of misguided and often cruel clergy and the harsh repressive measures they employed to abolish the children’s cultural identity. Sadly this act was tragically duplicated in the U.S. with the same long-term and disastrous results. It was not until the late 21st century that attitudes regarding First Nations cultural values changed and a wondrous example can be experienced just outside of Quebec City at the Huron-Wendake community.
Photo by Barbara Angelakis
The Hôtel-Musée Premières Nations is an immersive experience in First Nations Culture. Entering the hotel immediately introduces you to a world attuned to nature. Its symbols and architecture are reminiscent of a world outside our familiar western culture, even the décor of the public and private rooms speak to a relationship with the natural world.
Photo by Barbara Angelakis
The on-site museum is beautifully designed and filled with information and artifacts. Indigenous Tourism Quebec provides educational classes along with guided tours of the Ekionkiestha’ National longhouse which is a few feet outside the hotel proper. There, around a blazing fire, we were treated to stories of myths and legends by an indigenous storyteller.
Photo by Barbara Angelakis
But the most wondrous treat of all was a short drive to Onhwa’ Lumina, a story-telling enchanting sound and light show set in forest clearings. On a clear, cold, starry night, in the deep snow, surrounded by the spell-binding songs and the chanting of a Wendake woman, were the sacred legends of the tribe played out in dancing colored lights. This is a never to be forgotten experience and unlike any other sound and light show I have seen around the world. Don’t miss it.
For information on current and upcoming exhibitions at the Musée de la civilisation visit:https://www.mcq.org/en
The author received complimentary services, but as always, we are dedicated to giving you unbiased accounts of our experiences. See our Disclosures page for more information.
After all our years of eating in many top restaurants both in the US and Europe and a few in Asia, we have to admit that we’re not easily impressed… but impressed we were during this dinner a few days ago!
A new restaurant opened in a town nearby, in Englewood, New Jersey to be exact. The original sister restaurant is located in Brooklyn, New York and, if I understood correctly, there is at least one more operating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under a different name.
CZEN (pronounced seaZon) is located next to the Bergen Performing Arts Center Theater on one of the town’s main thoroughfares. Entering into this bespoke eatery is like being transported instantly from New Jersey to the Caribbean… but with a very pronounced Asian accent. You are greeted by a festival of colors, music to grove to, and a menu of delectable selections of fusion dishes.
There are a few tables under market umbrellas on the pavement, in front of the restaurant in keeping with the current trend towards alfresco dining.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
The restaurant’s physical plant is separated into two rooms; the first containing an extended bar and a grouping of small tables, while the main dining room has turquoise leather banquets lining the walls and comfortable coral-colored chairs – reminiscent of the azure Caribbean Sea and sparkling sands.
A massive chandelier with turquoise droplets provides the lighting while the walls pay homage to the Asian menu selections by displaying abstract art pieces and colorful sun umbrellas color coordinated to the turquoise and coral seating. The far wall of the main dining room has a large Caribbean/Asian scene with the restaurant’s logo. Simple black slate tables and black plates are perfect for showcasing the food.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
We were warmly greeted and shown to our table under the chandelier and handed the menu and drinks selections. I chose a Pineapple Crush (Pineapple Ciroc, Pineapple Rum, Peach Schnapps and Pineapple juice served in a hollowed fresh pineapple filled with succulent pineapple slivers) and Barbara selected Jammin (Jameson, Lime Juice, Ginger Beer, Ginger Ale). A bowl of deep fried, highly seasoned chow fun noodles and signature dipping sauce kept us occupied while we perused the menu.
We had the pleasure of meeting Chef Jonathan Broadwater and we remarked at the unusual combination of ingredients detailed in the appetizer section of the menu and asked for a selection of items creating what I would consider a tasting menu, instead of the more normal, one appetizer and one entrée dinner.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
Chef Jonathan was only too happy to oblige and started us off with one of the very best corn and crab chowders we have ever tasted. Chock full of corn, crab, carrots, celery, onions, in a savory broth and topped with a perfectly fried slice of lotus root that added a bit of crunch to the just-right spiced soup. Even if, like Barbara, you are not a fan of soup you will love this one just as she did… and she practically licked the bowl clean.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
We moved on to fried wings, tender and with a slight kick accompanied by a berry jerk dip, then to Asian style dumplings, some filled with oxtail and others with veggies.
Photo by Manos Angelakis
Another popular appetizer we tried was Bang Bang Cauliflower, lightly fried and tossed in one of CZEN’s signature sauces.
Chef Broadwater surprised us by sending out one course that was not on the current menu. That dish was just introduced and will appear on future menus, as the ingredients in most dishes are seasonal and the menu changes practically on a quarterly basis. It was lobster and shredded pineapple meat in fried jerk rice, containing large pieces of lobster and a variety of veggies served in a fresh pineapple shell… oh so good!
Photo by Manos Angelakis
We ended the meal with fried frozen vanilla ice cream in a crispy crust with Schlag (unsweetened whipped cream) with a side of blueberry compote.
Music is very much a part of CZEN’s ambiance and it offers live entertainment several evenings and on weekends; check the website for details.
CZEN is now serving both lunch and dinner and if you like good and rather unusual food, you have to try this restaurant.
The term “champor-champor” is a Malay expression which loosely translates to “a bit of this and a bit of that.”
The restaurant is located in South East London and I find it irresistible as it makes me feel transported to exotic locations through a cuisine that I like. The food at Champor-Champor is Malaysian but with a pronounced Thai influence and a few Indian dishes thrown in; most of the dishes are of the classic, savory and spicy East Asian variety.
For starters, we selected the Crab and Fish Begedil with Pineapple Kerabu. The Begedil is a crab and fish potato cake with a delicate golden exterior and moist interior; the Kerabu was an accompanying salad of ripe shredded pineapple and coriander leaves dressed with lime juice, soy and sweet chili. The saucy salad required us to dip the toast accompanying the dish to gather up every bit. We also tried a Green Papaya, Crispy Tofu and Pomegranate Som-Tam salad that was also very delicious.
For palate cleansers, we had a taste treat; a warm lemongrass barley soup which was very refreshing and perfect for a cool evening as well as a Rambutan and Korean pepper granita that kept us going from one palate cleanser to the other to savor each of the different tastes.
Photo by Nick A. Ross
For our main courses we selected the Lamb Shank braised in blue Sumatra coffee, red wine, dried red chilli and the King Prawns yellow turmeric curry. The lamb was sweet hot and the sauce was brilliant; braising the shank in the coffee and red wine gave the lamb a very unusual and unique taste; one that I will try to duplicate in my own kitchen. The prawns were served in a large bowl where the prawns floated in a deliciously spicy sauce.
Dessert was chocolate & chilli cheese cake for both of us — I can’t resist a good chocolate cake.
As a beverage we decided on traditional Asian teas; Jasmine Flower for me and Fresh Mint for my friend.
We were at Champor-Champor for an early evening meal. By the time we were ready to depart the restaurant was very full and humming. An exceptional kitchen will always bring out the foodies, no matter where in the world it is. This restaurant is highly recommended if you love tasty good Asian food!
Story by The Staff and wine bottles photo Manos Angelakis Additional photos courtesy of Royal Wine Corp.
After a 3 year hiatus because of COVID, the Royal Wine Corp. re-established their annual Kosher Food & Wine Experience at New York’s Chelsea Piers.
I have been writing about kosher wines for a number of years, and there is still quite a story to tell. There are numerous kosher and mevushal wines now in the world market, about 5,000 different ones, and they truly range from the sublime to the ridiculous!
Judaism and wine have been linked since time immemorial. Throughout history, wine has been at the center of ritual Jewish life and kosher wines accompany all ritual meals of the year. Kosher does not indicate anything about the quality in a wine; it is simply a certification that the wine within the bottle has been supervised and handled properly, to be used during Jewish religious observances. Grapes are always kosher when fresh, but wine production is complex and any additives used at any stage in production must be kosher for Passover.
Many wineries from countries with large Jewish populations produce kosher and/or mevushal wines.
While Israel is obviously the largest producer there are also kosher wines from France – a very large producer, the United States in numerous AVAs, Italy, Spain, Portugal and more recently Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to name but a few of the kosher wine producing regions.
Present at the tasting were large producers, like Israel’s Carmel, Yarden, Yatir and Barkan; medium sized wineries such as Domaine du Castel in the Judean Hills, Rioja’s Bodegas Faustino and from Italy, two Super Tuscans, Villa Mangiacane Magnificus and Tiera di Seta. Plus exclusive French Chateaus such as Château Léoville Poyferré Saint Julien, Château Bellefont-Belcier, a Grand Cru Classé from Saint-Emilion and Château Lascombes Margaux; there were kosher bottles for every taste and every pocketbook from $6.99 to $499.99 for a current vintage!
At the tasting, the following impressed me enough to make a note of them:
Barons de Rothschild Haut-Médoc – $34.99 – A classic blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon,it is a high quality dry kosher Bordeaux. I have tasted it in the past and its quality has considerably improved. The wine has spicy notes with rich fruit flavors. The bottle is full of dark, juicy cassis with a prominent note of fresh tobacco on the finish and approachable tannins. One of the few mevushal wines I happen to like and would drink it with pleasure.
Tabor Limited Edition – $59.99 – A highly-praised single vineyard from the upper Galilee produces this stellar Cabernet Sauvignon. It graces the wine lists of some of the world’s best restaurants. Full-bodied and well balanced, it shows aromas of blackberries, black currants and cassis with hints of caramel. It is a deep dark ruby red wine with cherry highlights. Robust and velvety tannins contribute to the exceptional structure.
Psagot Sinai White – $24.99 – A refreshing, aromatic, elegant and fruity blend, bursting with aromas and flavors of melon and pear. Various plots of the vineyard located in the hills of Binyamin overlooking Jerusalem were harvested at the optimal ripening stage and fermented separately; after fermentation, the wines were mixed into a final white blend.
Shiloh Secret Reserve Petit Verdot – $49.99 – Often blended in Bordeaux wines to add structure and complexity, Petit Verdot shines in this wine as a standalone varietal. The grape clusters are hand-picked and carefully culled before dawn from the best vineyards in Israel. On the nose there is lots of black forest fruits, spices and ripe plums. Full-bodied with ripe black plums, cinnamon and basil on the palate as well as ripe blackberries; it has medium acidity with sweet and chewy tannins. There is definitely sweet oak and dark chocolate on the long and rich finish.
Villa Mangiacane Magnificus – $59.99 – In the heart of the winemaking region of Chianti Classico, Villa Mangiacane is a magnificent 15th century property built by the Machiavelli family. It is a classic 50% Sangiovese, 50% Merlot, Super Tuscan. This wine reveals layers of delicately fruity and savory flavors and aromas. On the nose aromas of black cherry, chocolate, and warm spices with a mineral ending. On the palate a medium level of tannins and a good level of acidity that has structure and balance.
Each year in February, the annual Kosher Food & Wine Experience takes place in New York City to showcase the better kosher producers of foods and wines and to determine which wines will grace America’s Passover Seder tables and which kosher restaurants prepare great dishes to be had for festive occasions. Another major annual event is Kosherfest that takes place in the Meadowlands in New Jersey every November. I attend both events to discover good tasting wines and of course to try many of the Mittel-European foods that are associated with the Jewish culinary canon. Preparations from other parts of the world, such as sushi, that have become very popular and dietary acceptable by people that follow the kosher traditions were present, as were purveyors of traditional Jewish cooking and kosher steakhouse favorites.
This year’s event was very well attended. I would say that at least 1,500 or more individuals jammed the large space at pier 60 while I was there, and many more kept coming in keeping the space very crowded. I was at the event for the first 2 hours of the proceedings. Wine and spirits booths were at the periphery, while food purveyors and restaurants were mostly in the center double isles of two very large rooms.
Traditionally, the event has been a key influencer in determining which foods, restaurants, chefs and wines will be on the East Coast’s kosher community’s minds.
Notable were: Wall Street Grill showing offSpicy Tuna and Spicy Salmon sushi, Guacamole with Sweet Soy Spicy Mayo, and Jalapeno; Thai Beef Bourbon Sriracha; General Kame Chicken with Teriyaki Glaze and Tabasco Aioli and sliced USDA Prime Ribeye. Marble & Grain showing Beef Nigiri with Wasabi Cream; Beef Carpaccio with Silan Molasses, Pistachio Dust and Pink Salt; Tomahawk Ribeye Steaks with Horseradish Cream & Black Truffle Potatoes and other little and larger plates;Tuscanini Tuscanini olives, Tuscanini sundried tomatoes and Calabrian peppers with lemon oil, Tuscanini chestnuts, Tuscanini extra virgin olive oil and Tuscanini forest berry preserves, all imported from Italy. And Miele Gelato & Sorbet that was exhibiting 12 flavors of gelato, sorbet and alcohol-flavored sorbet; among others.
Elegant Desserts were present with items that were Kosher for Passover. They had a full line of cheesecakes, Danishes, and quiches. They also presented pancakes, rugelach and cakes and a full line of breads and their gluten free kosher for Passover french toast, cinnamon buns, crumb cakes, kokosh cake and other products. There were many great purveyors to discover in foods, wines and spirits!
Anyone who has been to the Galapagos will tell you that it’s the trip of a lifetime. But cruising the Galapagos on a luxury yacht is the trip of a lifetime times ten. For five nights and six days, I had the opportunity to experience the Latin Trails Sea Star yacht, which is newly renovated and the South American Leading Boutique Cruise 2017 award-winner (by the World Travel Awards). My companion and I were joined by just 12 other guests, who were mostly Europeans, and enough crew members to make it almost one-to-one.
The hot tub on the Sea Star. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
First, Latin Trails arranged for us to have a day tour of Quito, which included seeing the changing of the guard at the President’s Palace. Then, we flew to the island of San Cristobal, where we had a short tour to see giant tortoises. In the evening, we boarded the ship that would become our beloved home for almost a week.
The upper deck. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
The Sea Star has three decks and was recently refurbished so that some staterooms are equipped with balconies. We were lucky to get one of those rooms, so we could sit out on the balcony, which was large enough for two chairs and a small table.
A view of one-half of our stateroom. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
The Sea Star’s staterooms are about twice the size of those you find on most other small ships. My Nile cruise room from a few years ago, for example, was much smaller. Our stateroom had a closet and a spacious bathroom and shower with a large rainshower head, as well as bedside tables, refrigerator, storage areas, and even a choice of pillows. Each day, our room was serviced, and fresh towels were left on our beds, twisted into fun animal shapes with chocolates used for their eyes.
Every evening, our naturalist guide would give us a briefing about the islands we’d visit the next day, complete with a list of the animals we’d see. Galapagos is unique in that you can predict with relative certainty what species you’ll see on each island. The only species I recall being iffy was the flamingo, which is migratory. Most other animals live on their islands year-round. In fact, there are several different species of mockingbird, and some islands have their own resident mockingbird species that doesn’t travel elsewhere.
A mother and newborn sea lion. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
We often sailed overnight and after breakfast, went out to an island in the morning on Zodiacs. We then hiked on the beach and sometimes over rocky terrain. My walking stick was my friend some days, but none of the hikes were difficult. Some of our fellow travelers were even in their 70s.
I’m not a diver or snorkeler, but I was told that the snorkeling was some of the best the experienced traveling snorkelers have ever experienced. There are many colorful fish, sea turtles, mantas, and even whale sharks in the waters. In one location, they swam with baby sea lions, and kayaking was also an offered activity.
After our morning excursion, we would return to our ship, greeted by the friendly crew with disposable towels, snacks, and drinks. After a short rest, we’d have a wonderful lunch and go out again, either to the other side of the same island or to a nearby island. All in all, we managed to visit seven islands – San Cristobal, Espaniola, Floreana, Santa Fe, South Plaza, North Seymour, and Baltra, returning to Quito via the Baltra airport.
A marine iguana – one of two species of iguana that we saw on the islands. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Upon return from our afternoon excursion, we would be treated to a delicious dinner, followed by our briefing for the following day. Most of us lounged on the sun deck at dusk because the sunsets were not to be missed. The great frigatebirds and magnificent frigatebirds, which have a prehistoric silhouette in flight, often chased each other overhead. One night just before sunset, a couple of males sat on top of the boat, and we got a close look at them as we leaned slightly at the railing.
Of course, the sundeck was also the perfect place to soak in one of the two Jacuzzis, while sipping on the Pisco sours that we were served. It was truly a slice of heaven.
While the meals weren’t exactly gourmet, they were excellent and varied. One day, we had a roasted pig with a traditional Ecuadorian lunch. Another day was an Italian theme with spaghetti and two kinds of sauce, shrimp, and minestrone. Dinners always began with soups, which are a major part of Ecuadorian cuisine. In fact, Ecuador has finally sold me on soup! The rest of the meal was always buffet style with a few options to cater to everyone’s tastes. We had at least one vegetarian on board, and the crew was sensitive to the fact that I couldn’t eat milk or cheese.
A portion of the dining room on the Sea Star. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Of course, the real draw of the Galapagos is the wildlife, and the islands do not disappoint. One of the highlights for me was the many sea lions with newborn babies. In some cases, we even saw the afterbirth still on the beach. In one location, two Galapagos hawks waited for the mother to leave the scene so that they could eat the afterbirth.
Another highlight was seeing the male frigatebirds in full display with their red throats inflated and their wings extended. Everyone wanted to see the blue-footed boobies, which are perhaps the poster children of the Galapagos. We saw plenty of those, as well as the white and brown Nazca boobies. Unfortunately, none of our islands had red-footed boobies. But there was no reason to complain, as we saw literally hundreds of iguanas – both the red and black marine iguanas and the yellow land iguanas, along with countless small birds and bright red crabs, as well as full-grown and baby albatrosses.
While you’re told to stay a certain distance from the animals, the islands are much like a natural zoo because the animals aren’t at all afraid. At times, they’ll come quite close to you! The mockingbirds even pecked at our feet. It’s nothing short of thrilling.
The flora of the Galapagos is also unusual and fascinating. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Besides the Sea Star Journey, Latin Trails offers itineraries to other islands and of varying durations. The company also has other vessels in the Galapagos, a lodge in the Amazon, and a new 5-star hotel in Quito called the Illa Experience. Of course, the government of Ecuador carefully monitors all vessels in the Galapagos and the number of guests that visit each island each day. Itineraries have to be approved in order to protect the flora and fauna of this sacred locale.
When you ask an Ecuadorian about the Galapagos, they get a faraway look in their eye, and they usually say, “Paradise.” There’s no place else in the world like it, so if you’re an avid traveler, I consider it a must-see. But there’s no better way to do it than on the Sea Star. There just aren’t enough clichéd travel-writer superlatives for me to convey the superb experience on board this yacht in this magical place.
Melanie Votaw received a complimentary cruise from Latin Trails in exchange for this review, but as always, we are dedicated to giving you unbiased accounts of our experiences. See our Disclosures page for more information.
While visiting Zimbabwe, we were lucky enough to be invited to spend one night at Somalisa Camp, located in the heart of the Hwange National Park that hosts more than 100 types of mammals and more than 400 bird species.
Somalisa is called a bush camp, but it was much nicer than a number of the hotels we stayed in during our trip. It was recently rebuilt, adding beautifully furnished luxury canvas tents each with an en suite bathroom that included flush toilets, double copper sinks, indoor and outdoor showers, and copper slipper-style bathtubs.
There was a privacy cabinet so that food service could deliver meals from the outside without disturbing the guests. The provided toiletries were natural products of the highest order in handsomely crafted containers.
Somalisa Camp in Zimbabwe. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
In the tent where we spent the night, amongst the other high end furnishings, there was a king-sized bed with Egyptian cotton linen and a well-stocked wood-burning stove we made good use of, as it was near the end of autumn with bitterly cold nights.
Built-in shelves lined one wall, and the opposite wall was a very large-screened window that could be covered by canvas flaps to keep in the heat. The window looked out toward one of the the watering holes. Outside the screened window was a covered porch so that we could sit outside our room and watch the passing animals.
Nestled under a canopy of Acacia trees and overlooking two watering holes, Somalisa Camp and Somalisa Acacia, twin camps located in a private concession at the park, offer their guests ultimate luxury. Herds of elephants come to drink at the waterholes, as well as numerous other animals drawn to the available water.
Victoria Falls. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Possible activities for visitors are game drives through the private concession, safari walks, game viewing from a blind near the watering holes, and visiting Victoria Falls. There is also the possibility of a night drive using the camp’s rovers driven by the rangers. This is what we did, which allowed us to see elephants, lions, and other animals “on the hoof,” so to speak.
The main building where the dining room is located includes split level-decking with a separate lounge, as well as a small splash pool for guests. Dinner was served buffet style while we sat by the bonfire and was fairly simple but tasty and satisfying.
En suite tea cups brought to our room at Somalisa Camp. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The Somalisa camps are located about halfway from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city, and Victoria Falls, the tourism center by the Zambezi River. The trip involves traveling by highway and then by land rover.
One thing to note is that Somalisa keeps a highly carbon-neutral footprint by using large photovoltaic panels (solar cells) located over the camp’s auxiliary buildings, garage, and offices. The panels charge batteries during the day that provide all the necessary electricity day and night. They also make sure the watering holes are filled by using electric pumps that operate with electricity generated from smaller solar panels.
The water is cleaned and filtered at a sewage plant near the camp, making it pristine enough to drink. The elephants stand and wait by the water pumps, as they seem to know when the sun becomes powerful enough to get them working.
Somalisa is an open camp, so the animals walk freely around it day and night. For this reason, you have to react quickly to unexpected arrivals. You are in the middle of the “bush” here, and after sunset, there are lots of carnivorous animals. During that time, you will be escorted by gun-toting rangers from dinner to your tent, and in every tent there is an alarm-raising horn to call for assistance if an animal comes too close.
When you visit any of the bush camps, make sure to bring a flashlight with you, as you’ll need it at night even, although the rangers also carry flashlights along with their weapons.
The author received a complimentary stay at this lodge, but as always, we are dedicated to giving you unbiased accounts of our experiences. See our Disclosures page for more information.
I wanted to travel south, to be on the ground where the world shifted. I wanted to experience a persevering people—sitting in, standing up, marching, and registering to vote—who, against all odds, put their homes, jobs, land, and life on the line for equal treatment.
Alabama’s Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham teaches about sharecropping, a system implemented after the Civil War to keep formerly enslaved people on their plantations, feeding a greed for cheap labor.
Sharecroppers never owned their dwelling or the land they farmed, earned little profit, and often fell more into debt year-after-year to their white bosses, who kept the books. By the 1930s, about 60% of all cotton farms in the South were farmed by sharecroppers.
I hadn’t heard of industrial sharecroppers, which is the same quasi-slave system applied to newly industrializing cities. Blacks lived in company slum housing, paid inflated prices for goods at company stores, worked sun-up to sun-down six or seven days a week, such as in Birmingham’s Sloss iron mines.
A marker in Birmingham about Jim Crow laws. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Convict Leasing became a big business post-Civil War. Blacks were routinely arrested for vagrancy or for no reason at all (looking a white man in the eye, not stepping off the sidewalk for a white man, not showing proof of employment when stopped on the street), and sold by the state to work in private industries for no pay.
Three-quarters of Alabama’s state revenue at one time came from convict leasing. The convicts were often treated worse than slaves because they weren’t company property, so they could be worked to death and replaced.
The Civil Rights Institute shows just howseparate and unequal the Jim Crow South truly was. Black schools had twice the number of students per teacher, had to use discarded books from white schools or no books at all, had no libraries, gyms, or cafeterias, and sometimes no heat.
Black teachers earned 60% of the salary of white teachers. Blacks couldn’t play in parks with whites, swim in pools or use dressing rooms, and they were segregated on buses and all areas of life. Their job opportunities and promotions, wages, infant mortality, and life expectancy were a fraction of those of whites.
Exhibits in the Institute played TV coverage of local Civil Rights struggles. Revs. Martin Luther King and Fred Shuttlesworth led peaceful sit-ins and picketing of downtown stores, asking for equal treatment in the 1963 Birmingham Boycott. Protestors were arrested, which is when King wrote his famous letter from a Birmingham jail.
A marker in Birmingham about the Children’s Crusade. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
A thousand high school students, studied in Gandhi-like nonviolent techniques, marched in what became known as the Children’s Crusade. Six hundred were arrested and jailed. The next day, an additional 1,000 students protested. With the jails full, police chief Bull Connor unleashed attack dogs and high-powered firehoses on the youth, arresting and carrying hundreds away in school buses to outdoor pens.
With humility and reverence, I walked the ground where it happened. In Kelly Ingram Park across the street from the Institute, there are statues depicting the firehoses and other abuses by Chief Connor.
16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Also across the street from the park is the16th Street Baptist Church, where four little girls were killed when white supremacists bombed the building and shocked the nation. Birmingham was nicknamed “Bombingham” because there were bombings of more than 50 Black homes, churches, and businesses.
My friend, Cary, who grew up in Birmingham, told me his neighborhood was dubbed “Dynamite Hill.” As a boy, he heard bombs exploding in houses close by three or four times a year. “It took away my childhood at age seven,” he said, “My father made me go to his dry-cleaning business every day after school. I couldn’t play with my friends.”
The author with her friend, Cary.
I met a woman named Jai, who told me her mother was one of Birmingham’s first Black physicians. After work, dressed in her regular street clothes, she would be followed in department stores like a thief. “It’s more than ‘classism,’” Jai said. “It’s racism.” And she added, “My dad made my brothers dress in a suit and tie for their driver’s license photos—just in case it might make a little difference when stopped by the police.”
Next, I went south to Montgomery, Alabama, where Rosa Parks famously sat down to stand up for her rights, unleashing a 13-month Montgomery bus boycott. In this city, the Legacy Museum: From Slavery to Mass Incarceration took my breath away! A new generation museum founded by the Equal Justice Initiative and using cutting edge technology, it provides an immersive experience to walk you through four centuries of racial injustice.
While you’re on a simulated slave ship with trafficked Africans, you hear the water on the ship’s hull as you sail the Middle Passage—the Black Holocaust. Behind bars in slave warehouses, you hear children calling for their mothers. You see families torn apart on the auction block.
Interactive exhibits involve you with the laws, politicians, courtrooms, clergy, media, and more that invented and perpetuated the horror called “racial hierarchy.” Fueled by a convenient belief in white moral, political, and spiritual superiority, Black bodies could be “stolen,” broken, beaten, raped, and murdered without consequence. Fifty percent of enslaved families were broken apart, and few were ever reunited in the slave trade that flourished from Maine to Florida.
Montgomery had more jails, holding pens, and warehouses for enslaved people than it had hotels, banks, and churches. The museum also teaches about how today’s Black people receive more policing, arrests, convictions, harsher sentences, and less chances for parole compared to whites. The Legacy exhibit invites you to pick up the phone to hear real life inmate stories.
I wobbled, emotional and weak-kneed through the last of the exhibits, and as I approached a museum assistant, she knew to hand me a tissue before I even asked her for one. “She has done this before,” I thought. Maya Angelou said, “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”
The Memorial for Peace and Justice. Photo by Charla Hathaway.
The Memorial for Peace and Justice—or more directly, the lynching museum, sits on beautiful acreage in the heart of Montgomery, offering a sacred space for truth-telling and reflection on racial terror. Eight hundred and six columns (representing all of the counties where lynchings took place) are suspended and engraved with the names of 4,460+ documented lynching victims, and a column for the unknown number of undocumented victims.
Walking among the columns, I reached out and touched an engraved name—a life violently and unfairly taken without due process. On a mural, I read some of their offenses: passed a note to a white woman, cohabitated with a white woman, complained to a boss, tried to register to vote, was successful in business, could not find the victim so his mother and sisters were lynched instead, organized farm laborers for better conditions, argued with a shopkeeper. . .
Peaking at the turn of the 20th century, lynchings were often a spectator sport, attracting crowds of hundreds, even thousands, and advertised in the newspapers. Police directed traffic around the courthouse lawn where the hangings and burnings sometimes took place. Parents brought their children.
Postcards of the event were sold, and sometimes the victim’s body parts were taken for souvenirs, such as fingers or toes. It’s inconceivable. Mass lynchings were common, sometimes up to 150 victims. After 120 years of attempts to make lynching a federal hate crime, our country finally succeeded this year with a unanimous vote.
The Memorial for Peace and Justice. Photo by Charla Hathaway.
An hour west of Montgomery, I arrived in Selma and visited the Voting Rights Museum that documents the decades-long struggle for Blacks to cast a ballot in the Jim Crow South. Just attempting to register to vote meant losing their job, being thrown off the land where they worked and lived, endangering their family, and potentially being beaten or lynched.
In Dallas County, Black women organized door-to-door, recruiting and educating potential voters, teaching in “citizenship schools” in church basements. College students from the north arrived to help with registration and were jailed. Black landowners housed the students and put up their farm deeds to bail them out.
On Bloody Sunday, John Lewis led 600 peaceful marchers on their way to the Capitol to ask for their constitutional right to vote. They were clubbed and tear-gassed by Alabama State Troopers. Federal troops protected the next Selma to Montgomery March, and after four rainy days and 54 miles, some 25,000 marchers assembled on Alabama’s Capitol steps. Following shortly, the 1965 Voting Rights Act ended discriminatory poll taxes, literary tests, and some voter intimidation.
Federal monitors were ordered to oversee elections, and Black voter participation grew from 3% in 1940 to 66% in 1980 in ten southern states. Of course, we all know that voting rights are still an issue throughout the country, and John Lewis passed away, fighting for voters until the day he died.
Next, I drove three hours west from Selma to Jackson, Mississippi to see the Jackson Civil Rights Museum. One of the exhibits showed historic advertisements portraying Blacks with exaggerated facial features and subservient to whites. I followed a class of local high school students through the Freedom Riders exhibit. In 1961, hundreds of Black and white youth rode buses from Washington, DC to New Orleans to test the new Supreme Court ruling that outlawed segregation on interstate travel.
Freedom Riders were beaten by angry white mobs in many southern cities, and the buses were bombed. In Jackson, 360 were jailed. Photos of their young faces along with their booking numbers filled an entire wall. The trip was a sobering experience, but this painful historical legacy that we share is important to know so that we can never repeat the mistakes of the past and recognize the inequality that still exists from these earlier times.
I highly recommend visiting these fabulous museums throughout the South and learning more about our racist history.
You don’t have to be Dutch, or Swedish, or a citizen of any of the nations that border Europe’s North and Baltic Seas to appreciate herring.
In the Netherlands, the herring fishing season starts end of May and the first week of June is when the New Catch Holland Herring, known in the Netherlands as “Nieuwe Maatjes” arrives.
What is caught is young, immature herring that are of a specific size and are at least three years old. They should have a fat content of at least 16%, which only occurs after they start eating plankton in the spring, so the herring season spans mid-May through very early August.
Amsterdam new herring on display. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
Knowledgeable food lovers know it is a spring delicacy and there’s only a short window of time when herring is at the peak of its flavor. Just once a year, in a short 4 week period, herring in the North Sea reaches a peak of taste coming to the table succulent, buttery, mild and soft with a delicate flavor and a slightly salty undertone. It is as satisfying as the finest sashimi.
In Amsterdam, its arrival is celebrated as a national holiday and the first barrel of herring to reach port is auctioned off for charity. New herring is a very popular treat as well as perennial street food in the Netherlands and also in Belgium in June and July but is also still popular later on in the year when the fish has matured; it is leaner and is preserved by heavier salting.
New fresh herring. Photo by Manos Angelakis.
The new catch is rushed to market by air express; the first to arrive on American stores are the best of the incoming crop. They go to upscale restaurants in New York City and delicacy shops throughout Manhattan; most notably Russ and Daughters, a direct importer that takes first delivery of the new catch and sells them in their retail shops at Manhattan’s Lower East Side and at 34th Street and 10th Avenue and in Brooklyn.
In New York, the herring is typically served as close to whole as possible. After the head, intestines and spine are removed, the two fillets of the fish are still attached at the tail and the whole thing is served on a plate. If you have the herring at Grand Central’s Oyster Bar, they artfully display the two fillets out on a plate in a “V,” and serve them with chopped hard-boiled egg, diced onion, and minced chives as a garnish.
In Holland and Belgium, only the head and intestines are removed and the young fish, held by the tail over the mouth is consumed, backbone and all!
Herring. Photo by Manos Angelakis
Herring has always been a staple food for Northern Europeans; the Scandinavians of course, but also for the British, Russians, and Germans. In France the herring is grilled and accompanied by mustard sauce; in Britain cold-smoked and turned into breakfast kippers. They’re spiced, salted, pickled, doused in mustard and curry, teamed with cucumber pickles, tomatoes and dill, manipulated in dozens of ways.
With the exception of the foreign born and their families, we Americans are hardly a factor in the herring world. We do have our fun with the fish, talking of “red herrings” and whimsical dities like “herring boxes without topses…” Otherwise, they are hardly mentioned on this side of the Atlantic. But for the knowledgeable, particularly in the first weeks of June, fresh herring are a delicacy worth a place on anyone’s best plates.
Hotel ratings sometimes perplex me. Case in point: Hotel Napoleon in Memphis, Tennessee. This property is listed as 3-star, but it had all of the amenities I’m used to getting from a 5-star hotel, including a plush bathrobe and slippers. Most 4-star hotels don’t even include slippers. (Top photo courtesy of the hotel.)
During a recent award ceremony at the National Civil Rights Museum, Gloria Steinem and John Legend stayed at Hotel Napoleon, and I’m sure they didn’t feel remotely deprived.
The bathrobe in my room at the Hotel Napoleon. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
The lobby is small, but cozy – appropriate for a boutique five-story property with just 58 rooms and two suites. Since it was just opened in late 2016, everything inside is and looks quite new.
The building itself is historic, however. Once the Press Scimitar Building (also known as the Winchester Building) built in 1902, it’s on the list of National Historic Places. So you have the best of both worlds – brand new ultra-modern furniture and fixtures flanked by marble, lions, fleur-de-lis, and iron railings. I’m told some of the rooms even maintain an exposed original brick wall.
My room at Hotel Napoleon, Memphis. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
The staff was particularly friendly and helpful. I had a good time joking with concierge Rocky Goodwin when I needed to store my bag for a while after checkout. In fact, in 2018, Rocky received a Welcome to Memphis Pick Award as one of the city’s top hospitality industry workers. After having met him, I’m not at all surprised.
In keeping with that spirit of hospitality, free coffee and water are available in the lobby for guests at all hours, and there’s free WiFi, valet service, a business center, and a small fitness center. Hotel Napoleon is also 100% smoke-free, which is appreciated by those of us who are non-smokers.
My room at the Hotel Napoleon. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
There’s a restaurant on the premises called Luna that serves breakfast and an eclectic menu at dinner. Besides the usual eggs to order, try Napoleon’s Toast, which is French toast stuffed with cream cheese and topped with maple syrup and blueberries. Or get the breakfast wrap, which is a spinach tortilla stuffed with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cheddar cheese, and salsa. There’s a vegetarian quiche option, too.
The dinner menu is limited and pricier for most entrees, but you might want to try the Cheesy Shrimp-N-Grits for some southern-style seafood. It’s shrimp with bacon, mushrooms, and cheese grits (of course).
The ample bathroom table in my room at Hotel Napoleon, Memphis. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
Everything at Hotel Napoleon was nicely designed, comfortable, and in excellent condition. I especially appreciated the amount of storage space in the bedroom, as well as the bathroom. There was a long table with plenty of room for my cosmetics and toiletries with a shelf underneath that contained extra towels, the slippers, and a blow dryer.
My bathroom at Hotel Napoleon, Memphis. Photo by Melanie Votaw.
I also liked that the combination shower/tub had a little shelf that could be placed across the tub to hold more toiletries, and the tub also had some railings. At the sink were a magnifying mirror and a large lighted mirror. Thank you for enough light!
My bedroom also had a Bluetooth-enabled clock radio docking station and a Keurig coffee-maker. The television included more than 100 channels.
Another advantage of the Napoleon is that it’s just a short walk from Beale Street but enough away from the nightlife that there wasn’t street noise to keep me awake. I enjoyed my stay immensely, so I wouldn’t hesitate to sleep at Hotel Napoleon again or to recommend it to anyone visiting Memphis. In other words, don’t let the 3-star rating fool you – it deserves at least four.
The author received a complimentary stay at this hotel, but as always, we are dedicated to giving you unbiased accounts of our experiences. See our Disclosures page for more information.
