Italian Wine & the City of Angels

1/7/2023 - On one of our two sea days from Baja to LA, our main cultural event was participating in an Italian Wine Tasting. Viking Neptune’s Sommelier, "George" from Belgrade, Serbia, conducted the tasting. He provided so much great information, such as there are 800 different types of grapes grown in Italy.

1. Baron Longo Hoheinstein – Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy – produced in northern Italy where the Alps protect the grapes from the north wind and there is great southern exposure – a microclimate. The wine was essentially a gewurtztraminer, but not German at all.
2. Tenuta Luce, Lucente – Tuscany, Italy – a “super” Tuscan – French grapes planted (oh my!) – Robert Mondavi partnered to produce the Sangiovese ++ wine. Clay soils in this area.
3. Frescobaldi Castel Giocondo, Brunello Di Montalcino – Tuscany, Italy – Montalcino is the warmest & driest part of Tuscany – 100% Sangiovese
4. Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico – Valpolicella, Italy – produced in the Verona area
5. Frescobaldi Pomino Vinsanto – Tuscany, Italy – the most delectable dessert wine we’ve ever tasted

Now on to LA!
Today was such a special day After passing through Customs & Border Patrol and being welcomed back to the USA, Mary’s long-time law librarian friend and colleague, Mike Saint Onge, picked us up at the terminal and was our tour guide extraordinaire for the day. Not

only that, but he graciously agreed to receive our Amazon orders for the “few” things we decided we really needed, like better binoculars.

Our first stop was Griffith Park set high on a hill above LA. We got our first good look at the Hollywood sign and took a nice walk around the Observatory grounds. Inside the art deco observatory, we stopped to see the Foucault Pendulum, a 240 lb bronze ball on a 40 ft long cable, which swings in a constant direction while the Earth turns around it, demonstrating the Earth’s rotation. We saw lots of people dressed in Georgia & TCU attire today. Hmmmm.

Next, we drove to Mike & his husband, Kio’s, home in the Silver Lake area of LA. Their home and gardens, built on a terraced hillside in the 1920s and added on to over the years, are as beautiful as Mike’s FB photos, and even more so in person.

Mike drove down the winding streets of Silver Lake to show us the reservoir, which is 3 miles around. Then we drove down Sunset Blvd, parked at Union Station, and had a fabulous Mexican meal at El Paseo Inn, a 1930s landmark on historic Olvera Street. Can one ever eat too much Mexican food?

The visit was much too short. Mike & Kio drove us all the way back to

the ship (nothing is close in LA), with a quick Target stop, in time for us to attend the Viking Neptune Naming Ceremony. Nicole Stott, retired NASA astronaut, aquanaut, and artist, was named as the ship’s godmother. Viking CEO, Torstein Hagen, and his daughter, Karine Hagen, were on hand to conduct the ceremony, in which the ship received a blessing of good fortune and safe sailing. We watched from afar and on the big screen. A very nice send-off indeed. Then, at midnight, while we were fast asleep, the Viking Neptune headed off towards Hawaii. We were originally scheduled to stop in Santa Barbara, but the captain wisely chose to add another sea day, and sail southwest away from the incoming storm that dropped 10” of rain on Santa Barbara County the following day.