"Jet Lag" Lag

One would think that 2 weeks would be ample time for a body, even a 63 yr old body, to adjust to the 8 hour time change from Europe to Vancouver. Don't kid yourself! For some reason my body seems to be hung over the Atlantic coast time-wise. At some point between 8 & 9 PM each evening my eyes shut and just as quickly they open wide at between 4 and 4:30 AM. I decided to use this to my advantage to live on Florida time as I'll be flying there next Tuesday for 2 weeks.

Europe 2008-2009 was a vacation of a different ilk. For months I made lists of where to go, what to see, what to do, edited and re-edited same, and when it came time to actually go / see / do we changed every thing at the last minute.

The original plan was 2 weeks in Glasgow to celebrate Christmas followed by 1-2 weeks in Sicily basking in the warm winter sunshine followed by a last week in Scotland to take a bus tour of St. Andrews and Fife, and a Distillery and Sterling Castle and a Loch or two.

The Actuality was quite different but flexibility is our middle name. We spent 4 days in Glasgow, 4 in Edinburgh, 4 more in Glasgow, 8 in Edinburgh then 1 glorious week in Lagos Portugal. On our return to Edinburgh the spastic boiler that provides both heat and hot water gave up the ghost, requiring someone (read that as WE the parents) stay and let the plumber into the flat on 2 days, catch the drips from the leaky radiator and generally 'be there' for our child who had started her new job on the fateful day the boiler died. Once the boiler was back in operation we discovered that we had missed the last tours for that week. A built in excuse to come back again next year!

New Years Eve and Hogmanay Celebrations are a BIG deal in Edinburgh. Hogmanay begins Dec. 29th with a torchlight parade from downtown Prince's Street up to Calton Hill. At the head of the parade is a mock wooden Viking ship and a full complement of hairy Vikings to pull it. When it arrives atop Calton Hill there is much playing of bag pipes, roaring of the fierce Vikings who then torch the ship creating a bonfire that can be seen all over the city. When the fire is burning at it's fullest, a display of fireworks is set off that rivals the competition we see over English Bay in the summer.

Lucky for us Chris's flat lounge overlooks Calton Hill so we had a ring side seat for the full show. On New Year's Eve they again set off fireworks, but this year it was not nearly as good as the Hogmanay show. Chris informed us that the torchlight parade was rained out last year so they had 2 yrs worth of fireworks to play with - lucky for us!

Lagos Portugal was gorgeous. A small city within ancient stone walls built on a hillside leading down to the ocean. The beaches are to die for! With temperatures ranging from a low of 9 to high of 14 we were blessed. Remember now, back home in Surrey our house and yard were buried by 2 feet of snow and bone chilling below zero temperatures. Here in Lagos we were within walking distance of the cliffs, beaches, waterfront and oldwalled city.

To be true tourists, before our last day holiday Chris and I lunched on the local specialty, kale & potato soup and grilled sardines. Don declined our offer to come along and chose to walk the waterfront and take photos.

If you have loads of time, check out my vacation photos on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/97425354@N00/

991 Things Left to do Before I Die.

4 years ago my daughter gave me a special book for Christmas. It was titled 1000 Things to Do Before You Die. The book was relegated to the reading room (you may know it as the loo) where I would pore over it daily, dreaming of seeing the world for real rather than from my armchair.

To kickoff my 1000 special places my husband and I went to a convention in Tuscon Arizona the year he retired. We added another week onto the trip and drove north, visiting various National Monument sites and the majestic Grand Canyon.
That was #1 on my list and I was in no way disappointed. I thought to myself, Now I can die happy!



However, the need for another trip started niggling at me.
Born and raised in land-locked Saskatchewan the Mediterranean Sea was the stuff my fairytales were made of; Azure seas, Canals in Venice, White cottages dotting the isles of Greece, walled cities in Croatia, the ruins of Ephesus, the Strait of Messina, the Acropolis in Athens and Trevi Fountain in Rome and on and on.

Thanks to a Princess Cruise dream # 2 was fulfilled in May 2007.





Which takes me to #3, Pompeii, the ruins of a once-great Roman city buried by the ash of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Dreamed about since I first saw articles on it in an old National Geographic issue my parents bought at an estate sale when I was a young child. So, at the end of our cruise we visited the port of Naples and took a guided bus tour to Pompeii. We walked over streets that were built 1000 years before Christ, touched brick walls that housed families like our own, walked through their courtyard gardens, saw outdoor bread ovens and indoor plumbing of designs still used by some cultures today. Now, I thought, I can die happy!

After spending 12 days touring the Mediterranean, it was easy to add #4, a 5 night stay in beautiful Barcelona and not to miss the Louvre, Eifel Tower and Notre Dame in spot #5, 5 nights in Paris I've blogged about our experiences there already so I won't bore you with more gushy descriptions.

We headed back to Glasgow in May. Again thoughts of just 1 more place to see kept coming to mind, Edinburgh Castle, a REAL castle, smacking of Lords and Ladies, Kings and Queens, Turrets and Towers, Granite Walls and Dungeons, Moats and Iron Gates. The stuff a kids dreams are made of! When I was 8 or 9 I spent every Art class drawing princesses with crowns living in high castles, never dreaming I would one day be close enough to actually see one! Surely this trip would satisfy my destiny and I could rest knowing I'd done it all. Off to Edinburgh we went. The castle did not disappoint, it is a foreboding gloomy rock that lords it over the city of Edinburgh, a show of strength and past glory. Now, I thought, with #6 completed I can die happy!


In the fall of 2007 the thought popped into my mind "Wouldn't it be great to take a cruise with my sister this winter"? A few weeks into the New year and off to Florida I flew, cruise ticket in hand. My younger sister and I sailed off into the sunset, actually we went east so should it be "sailed off into the sunrise"? and 8 glorious days with no cooking, no cleaning, no telephones, no kids or grandkids, (dare I say No Husbands) just pure luxury and I could cross #7 off my list. Now I can surely die happy!

Soon summer was here and once again my feet began to itch. Mount Rushmore! Great leaders of our neighbours to the south, etched forever in Granite Mountainside, can't you see it! The image wouldn't leave me. It was meant to be, this must be #8. Some long passionate discussions with my designated driver convinced him that I could never truly die happy unless I could visit Mount Rushmore. We packed our car in June and hit the road, not quite Thelma and Louise but with as much enthusiasm. We were not disappointed, it is breathtaking. There is an evening program that culminates with the mountainside being illuminated and all vetrans in the audience being invited to the stage to be thanked for their service to their country. I cannot tell a lie, my heart burst with pride and I'm not even an American. Now I can die happy!

On Dec. 16, 2008 we again find ourselves in Glasgow visiting our best friend and only child, thinking "This year we can just visit", when I came across a webpage for Holyrood Palace...We didn't get to it last year, we have the time this year, why not just do it, after all, I've always wanted to see a real palace, maybe Prince Charlie will be home and invite us in for tea? So, next week we're heading off to Edinburgh again with Holyrood Palace in our sights, soon to be #9.

Only 991 left to go, then I can die Happy!!

Caribbean Blues

We've had one of the worst winters in recent years with record snowfall, record rain fall and days of grey skies. Time for a break, warm sunny Florida HERE I COME! Arrived Feb. 27th to warm air, blue skies and sunshine.

The vacation was wonderful, more than wonderful! Florida sunshine, lazy afternoons at the pool,rousing bingo games at night and of course lots of shopping shopping shopping. Thanks to Barb and Don I was able to attend my first ever Pro Baseball game. Toronto Blue Jays lost to Tampa Devil Rays - GO RAYS. Another thing to cross off my list of 1000 things to do before I die.


We drove 2 & 1/2 hrs to Port Canaveral to board the Mariner of the Seas. Close to the cape you are treated to some spectacular scenery. The air was clear enough that from the deck of the ship we could see the space station silo where they build the rockets. Unfortunately my wee camera doesn't have the oompf to show it, but maybe Don can photoshop it when I get home.


Caribbean Blue Water, something we never saw growing up in Saskatchewan, still looks fake to me. Nothing can be that blue naturally! When we got home and downloaded all our photos almost half were water shots. Something I'll have to work on if I'm ever going to become a decent photographer.



Our first day onboard the Mariner was quite a learning experience. With 3114 passengers, and length of 1020 feet it did take some getting used to and we certainly put on the miles as we trekked back and forth trying to find our way to various locations.

On day 3 we discovered that by remembering the phrase "laft aft", and turning left when exiting our cabin, we would end up at the rear of the ship where the buffet and adult hot tub resided. What more could a girl ask for?


My present problem seems to be my inability to focus on the mundane things like dusting, cleaning floors, cooking and doing laundry. Cruising has spoiled me for life. We were warned onboard that this could become a problem and now I believe it.The room steward was crafty and left us animal treats on our bed at night, some were just too cute to dismantle.

Hola Readers!

Somewhere in my ancient roots there must be a touch of Spanish blood as Barcelona touched my soul in many ways. Sounds corny I know, but I can't find other words to explain it. We landed in Girona on a Sunday morning, 10 minutes before the scheduled arrival time, picked up our suitcases, purchased bus tickets into the city and found our seats all with 30 minutes. Ryan Air delivered on their promise again.

The drive to Barcelona was dotted with ancient stone ruins, aquaducts, vineyards, green rolling hills and fields, with the odd country villa where only the rich and famous could reside.

On arriving at Station Nord bus and train depot we had our first real experience with a foreign language. Signs and ticket machines were bi or tri-lingual, Spanish, Catalan and sometimes French. We punched the button that said Placa de Catalanya and boldly fed in Euro coins until tickets came out. Faced with a choice of 2 platforms we stopped a nice young couple to ask for directions. After much animated discussion on which was the right way to go the young man points us towards a tunnel leading to a platform where the machine kept spitting our tickets back out at us. At seeing our obvious confusion, a good Samaratin stopped and with sign language and limited English explained we were on the wrong platform for the ticket we had purchased. Back we go to our starting point and 10 minutes later we boarded the train for Placa de Catalanya stop.

A short ride later we disembark only to discover a maze of exits, none of which indicate the way to Las Ramblas. As panic starts to set in we notice a staffed information booth, so off we go, suitcases in hand. To our dismay none of the attendants spoke English, so with sign language and broken high school French we asked for directions. In response to our gestures and fractured French one gentleman emphatically pointed straight ahead. As I start out in what I think is the right direction he bangs on the glass and waves his arm up and down, pointing again. Don then starts off towards a turnstile, which brings on more banging on the glass. We return to the booth and again, with gestures and questioning looks, ask him to repeat the directions. He now points downward, where to our surprise we see there is a gate attached to the booth.. we point to it....he smiles and nods.....we sheepishly open the gate and proceed down the obvious exit...to our enjoyment all 3 attendants stand up and smiling broadly, give us a rousing round of applause. Nice folks.

A short walk later and we find our daughter leaning up against a building waiting for us. She greets us with a hearty "welcome to Barcelona, I see you made it".

Our apartment was located at #6 Calle Portaferrissa, which literally means "the street of the iron gate". The mouth of the street is the entrance to the old city, holding a great iron gate. The dark narrow streets house an accumulation of shops, restaurants and bars.

Sleep came quickly the first night and we woke Monday morning to the sounds of roosters crowing, monkeys screeching and shopkeepers rolling up their doors to open for business. Overnight a nasty head cold settled in and cramped my style for the next 2 days, but hey, you might as well be sick in an exotic location, right? On Monday morning I did make it as far as the La Boqueria market to pick up sausage, fruit, cheese and bread but had to head back to our apartment and a nap. The next 2 days were spent reading, sleeping and popping cold tablets. By Wednesday I felt almost human and ventured down the 89 stone steps into the world.

My list of MUST SEE sights include the Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera and Casa Battlo designed by Antonio Gaudi, the Barri Gotic medieval ruins from the 14th and 15th century, the Barcelona Cathedral, Roman Ruins and Las Ramblas. 4 days is not long enough to even scratch the surface of what Barcelona has to offer. My list of things I will do next time (see I'm already committed to returning) include the various museums, Parc Guell, the waterfront, Aquarium and Montjuic park.

One thing I did get my fill of is Paella, had it for 3 meals and surprisingly the one I liked best was a seafood concoction described as "Black, with squid ink". I felt very brave trying it.

A Whirl-Whind Whorld Tour

The grand tour began on April 23, 2007 aboard the Emerald Princess. Twelve days of unprecedented luxury including gourmet meals, maid service, first class entertainment and the most beautiful scenery imaginable.We kicked off the cruise in Venice. We arrived in Trevisio airport around noon April 23rd and took the shuttle to the Port. The ship remained in port overnight and departed the afternoon of April 24th. This allowed just enough time to experience St. Mark's square, walk the side streets to see the quaint shops and cafes and to get our fill of pigeons, also known as rats with wings. I'd actually thought of doing some shopping but after looking at the cute little handbags with their 700 Euro price tags I decided to pass. With the Euro at approximately $1.50 Canadian, it was too rich for my taste.


While this is my 3rd cruise, it was undoubtedly the best by far. The weather being the main factor, closely followed by fabulous shore excursions to the walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.



Athens Greece was a last minute excursion addition, and one that turned out to be the most enjoyable. Our tour guide was informative, and enthusiastic about her country, sort of reminded me of the Papa in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. She knew her stuff and was generous in her praise and support for all things Greek

A full day was spent on the Island of Santorini. Being afraid of heights BIG TIME, the Santorini bus ride to the top of the island was a real nail-biter. I actually pointed the camera out the window and snapped photos without looking, and miracle of all miracles, some of them are not half bad.
Santorini from the sea, appears to be a snow capped mountain range. As we came closer it was evident that the snow was a multitude of white washed box shaped houses. Flat roofs allow for the collection of rainwater, which drains down into underground cisterns where it is stored for the dry months. Rain is scarce on Santorini and the grape vines have adapted by growing close to the ground in the form of small circular shrubs, not much more than 12 inches in height. A strange sight compared to our Okanagan Vines in British Columbia. The tour included a stop at 'Santo Wines' for a tasting session and nibbles....yummy.

Mykonos, an Island Paradise with turquoise water, white sand beaches and narrow cobblestone streets seeping up into the hillsides.

The next-to-final stop was Naples where we climbed aboard a bus to tour the ruins of Pompeii.On the way we stopped at a cameo factory where the craftsmen / crafters if you want to be politically correct,explained how they carve seashells to make beautiful cameos and ornaments.

While very interesting, I was more taken with the Bougainvillea growing down the wall adjacent to the parking lot. The vibrant colors and tissue like petals were impossible to resist, resulting in taking way too many pictures.


As a child growing up in the prairie hamlet of Hayseed Sask. I could only dream of far-away places, islands in the sun peppered with flat roofed white boxlike houses, and ruins of cities like Pompeii that thrived 2000 years before Christ.

Imagine my surprise when I found out they had indoor plumbing, which I never had until I went away to the big city to attend University in 1963.

Somehow in my pre-trip imagination, I would walk the ancient streets carefree, arthritis free, and pain free. Not So, while young at heart the old body found it a struggle to achieve what my heart desired. Even with frequent rest stops and all the wishful thinking I could muster, I found myself unable to keep up for more than 1/2 a day. After that it was back to the "Swimming Hotel" as our ship was called in Kusadasi, Turkey, for a tall cool drink and a nice long nap.

We disembarked in Rome, checked into our hotel and were thrilled to discover the corner of the Roman Walled City was a mere 2 blocks away. We followed the wall for an hour or so, then hunger called so we backtracked to the hotel. Our hotel clerk recommended a family run restaurant close by for dinner, so off we went. Dinner was interesting as the meat was cooked on a grate over the fireplace at the front of the restaurant, and starters were a "serve yourself" array of wonderful olives, marinated artichokes, asparagus, mussels, calamari, cheeses, and much much more. I could easily have made a meal of it. To end our meal we had Gelato and coffee. As we prepared to leave the owner came over and insisted we have a drink before going, on the house, so who are we to refuse such a gracious offer.

It was fully dark when we left, full and happy. A good night's sleep later it Sunday morning and we were up early for a buffet breakfast on the rooftop terrace then off on a 2 hour walking tour of the walled city of Rome.


In case you are wondering, of course I tossed a coin in the Trevi Fountain - but so far have not won the big lotto prize.

Our tour ended by rejoining our bus for a trip to Vatican city and the crowd-crush in St. Peter's Square for the Pope's Sunday Blessing. Not being Catholic didn't deter us from enjoying the experience of being surrounded by thousands of people from all around the world here for the experience of a lifetime.

Next Stop, and next post, Barcelona