Wining and Dining

I showed you the kitchen, the china and the silver yesterday.

This is where it gets put to use: The State Dining Room. Of course the walls are decorated with gifts from all over the world.


It is now available for Corporate Events.


Just in case the menu isn't legible, allow me to transcribe:

Sample Dinner Menu

Amuse-bouche

~

Ravioli of Scottish lobster with a light saffron jus

~

Roast fillet of Beccleuch beef, glazed fondant potato,

Caramelised shallots and a red wine sauce

~

Carpaccio of pineapple and

Lime syrup with a coconut sorbet

~

Parfait of dark Valrhona chocolate with sweet candied orange

~

Coffee and hand-made petit fours

Aperitif and Wines

Bollinger, Grande Annee 1999

Condrieu, Chapoutier, Rhone 2004

Chateau les Ormes de Pez, Grand Cru Bourgeois,

St Estephe, Bordeaux 1996

Looks like surf and turf with some reasonable plonk and a little short on the veggies, if you ask me. I do love the place setting, though.

Support Services

In addition to several bars, there appeared to be several kitchens on this ship. I can understand that it would be difficult to carry large quantities of hot food for very far on a ship in motion.


I can't tell you the name of the china pattern, sorry.


I can tell you that every piece of silver had a designated place and every pieces of silver was polished every day. What fun.


Then there was a tiny little room that constituted the ship's post office. If I remember right, the Queen's post was flown to her daily.


With everyone running around changing clothes all the time, a large laundry facility was needed. I think they said something like 900 articles passed through here daily.


Keeping everyone's items straight will have been a very interesting challenge, don't you think?


This ship was originally built to serve as a hospital and so its sick bay also makes provision for doing surgery.


If transporting hot food on a moving ship is difficult, I should think attempting to perform surgery would be a nightmare.


Fortunately, this function was never needed.

Beds & Bars

Here's where being un-nautical gets me into real trouble.


After officers, I've no idea about the next groupings of the men.


There will be a sharply defined hierarchy, I know.


After all this isn't just a military setting, but a British military setting.


Everyone will have known their place, right down to their numerical order, I'm sure.


There were two more bars and sleeping quarters we saw and I cannot tell you who slept where.


The whole thing about separate bars and all says a lot about the British culture, the role of alcohol and of segretating the various classes.


In addition to the seamen, there were also members of a band, the HM Royal Marines Band Service, according to their website. I remember the recording saying that storing one's personal possessions was always a challenge, particularly when one had to change clothes as many as SIX times a day.


I can't remember who needed such an extensive wardrobe, I'm sorry to say. Surely the crew had better things to do than be changing clothes all the time? So, I can only guess it was the band.


Makes the Duchess of Marlborough, with her mere four changes a day, look positively slovenly.

Wombat Room

This


is where the Officers


gather


for a pre-dinner drink.


Note the pictures


of the Royal chicks.


Note the collection of silver and various whatnots from all over the world, gifts, apparently from grateful guests.


Note the stuffed wombat in the ceiling fan.


This, also a generous gift, from a member of the Royal family on the understanding that it would be given much love and care. Instead, it was the centre of some sort of game that may have similarities with cricket or polo, but without the horses. Landing said wombat in the ceiling fan made a goal, or something like that. Grown men, one and all...

This is where the Officers dine.


I forget all the protocol they mentioned, but there was of course a dress code, a prescribed number of toasts by certain officers and the most junior officer had to tell an interesting story at the end of the meal.

Not my idea of a relaxing evening, but then I don't guess one is ever not on duty when on a ship.

Engine Room

This is the engine room. Apparently it always looked like this. The recording named some famous American, someone like General Schwarzkopf, and quoted them as remarking on the pristine cleanliness having said something along the lines of, "Very nice, now where is the real engine room?" Actually, it was probably someone Naval, but though we both recognised it at the time, neither Bill nor I could remember the name.


It is a steam turbine engine and the only other things I recall from the recording were that it had an impressive water re-cycling system and used de-salinated sea water for top ups.


I wonder if those guys do domestic cleaning?

Let's Have a Drink & Go to Bed

but Not Together....

(Sorry, the order of my photos, along with my habit of playing with post titles - I couldn't resist).

If you're just joining us, we are taking a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia. Bill pointed out that my post yesterday was a bit confusing, as it provided no context. Serves you right for not keeping up, I said, but have relented here, with an explanation...

This is the drinks room, decorated to the Queen and Prince Philip's tastes. It probably has another name, I just don't remember it.


The bamboo furniture comes from somewhere exotic, I don't remember where. (I'm doing great, here, aren't I?)


The ship is make of teak. I told Sarah it was some of the most expensive, but I was mistaken. Apparently that would be ebony.


I was curious to see what the drinks cabinet held. I spotted Gordon's, Dubonnet and Lea and Perrins. (Would you believe you have to give your date of birth to enter those websites - not the Worchestershire sauce one - like minors can't do math? Then again...) I've no idea what the champagne was, but I suppose that if one wished to know what brands Liz and Phil prefers, one would consult the list of Royal Warrants - which is a hoot.

Then we came to the Queen's bedroom.


I was almost sort of scared to look in, just in case she was in there!


This picture of the silk embroidery above her bed in no way does it justice. There were items in the gift shop that were made with a similar print, which was tempting, but what I really wanted - and they didn't have - was the embroidery pattern. It was good enough to have got out my embroidery hoops again.


Here we have Prince Philip's bedroom,


linked to the Queen's. Have you noticed that those are single beds? And how tiny is his closet? I kept wondering if the real rooms were somewhere else and these were just modest rooms for show.


Mind, when Charles and Diana had their honeymoon on board, Charles wasn't having any of that nonsense: he had the first -- and perhaps only, I don't remember -- double bed put into the honeymoon suite.


A double bed. You know what this means, don't you?

The names QUEEN-SIZED and KING-SIZED beds are no such thing - just selling gimmicks or something. It also explains why you don't see many fat Royals these days...they wouldn't fit in their skinny little beds!

Commander's Quarters

Where the man works




sleeps


eats


and drinks.


Even the kitchen where his food is prepared,


all tidy, attractive, sufficient. Interestingly, most of the men I know who have done military service have tidy habits; maybe I should have enlisted.