Tenerife Canary Islands

April 23rd.. On land again after many days!  I love Tenerife and am glad to be there once again. I is a pleasure to share it with my daughter and grand kids. The streets are laid out simply and it is easy to get around, even if you are under 4 feet tall!

We checked out the shopping of course and walked through the park, then we searched for the McDonald's so that Karin could try to contact Brandon to let him know all was well.


 

 

Looking for wifi..

 

I have been to Tenerife many times, but this is the first time that the water was in this fountain.

 

 

 

Everywhere we went the kids found playgrounds, we were thinking of publishing a paper about playgrounds in Europe.

 

 

 

 

 

There are many beautiful flowers and trees in Tenerife, The Jacaranda is purple and one of my favorites. The Bird of Paradise is colorful and most everywhere you look! springtime is a great time to be in the Canary Islands!

 

 

 

 

Finally....McDonald's and Wifi

 

 

Tomorrow at sea..then on to Cadiz!! I can't wait to show the kids. Cadiz is probably the most kid friendly port of call. 

More later!

 

 

April 16, 2012                Nassau  The Bahamas

 
 Pulling into harbor in Nassau

On the street in Nassau..getting ready to shop !

 

When we arrived in Nassau it was warm, the last really warm day that we would see for a while. The kids were excited to see all the vendors on the street, and Declan struck up a conversation with a street merchant, discussing his wares. 

Declan is quite a photographer..and took many good pictures along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

We walked down to the ice cream store. Michael loves Ice Cream and can spot a shop a mile away!

He had a malt and the kids ice cream and we all enjoyed the view from the balcony!

               Across the street from the ice cream shop was a chapel.There is a lot of construction going on around it and I fear that it will be the victim of progress.

                the houses are interesting and sometimes very colorful.

April 15, 2012           Settling in for the night!


when we first got on the ship, Declan was a little nervous. It was really high in the air and he was afraid to go too close to the edge.  After an afternoon of exploring the ship he was feeling better about it.  Our "room" overlooked the front of the ship...a good and bad thing. The view was great, but we learned that all the crew went into the maintenance area through a door directly below our window.. ALL night and all day...THUMP, THUMP, Crash Bang!!
That was an annoyance, but we all survived!


 

                                    Brenna watching herself brush her teeth, first night out!

 

Mom and Declan choosing a story for bedtime.

 

 

I was worried that there would be cabin fever, or sea sickness, but once we were out to sea everyone seemed to be OK. It was Very windy all the way across so we were limited to inside activities, but there was plenty to do on the ship. Declan got over his fear of heights and on the last few days aboard he climbed the rock wall! I couldn't watch!

Europe 2012 catching up

Last year in Europe was a busy year. It was filled with fun, adventure, some new things, and some sad things. I am going to attempt to catch up over the next few days.
 
The adventure began on April 14, 2012, with a stop at my sister , Patti's house near Tampa FL.  She has been kind enough to be "auntie" to Sian, the cat of the house, and she takes us across FL to Ft. Lauderdale to get on the ship. She always had a private room waiting for Sian with a view of the pool andhis own TV.
 

                                             Sian on his perch overlooking the pool!

                                          
                                   Sian giving us the "I know you're up to something" look!

We visited with Patti and the next evening Brandon and Karin arrived with Brenna and Declan.  We came home from a day of shopping to find them in the kind of chilly pool!
They are young so they can take it! The next morning at 4:30 we will get up and begin the adventure.

      some pool time with Mom and Dad..you will note that Mom is prudently sitting on the side.

     A lot of luggage, and that does not include ours!

                                            Always time for a little building! Declan loves to build.

                                        
                                           4:30 A.M comes fast, loading up with Daddy!


                                         On the ship at last! There was a short wait in Port!
                                          

                                            Promise of future fun!!

                                                  And now the food...we are all hungry!

The weather on the cruise was pretty cool and very windy, but we managed to do some really fun things along the way!  First stop was at Nassau the Bahamas..  We walked around and looked at historic places and had ice cream near the harbor!  The kids met some interesting folks and bought their first treasures!
Now 6 days at sea..to fill with fun!
More later!

side note: Our Sian passed in his sleep on April 8,2013. Thanks to Auntie Patti, Partytime, Prissy, and Murphy for lovey summers spent in Florida!

Universal language

random thoughts in the middle of the night.


In my travels I have found that there is a universal language, one that we all can understand. Babies cry in the same language everywhere, and giggle! We all recognise a smile or a frown and a hand shake needs no translation!(or a kiss on the cheek)
I have seen too the universal, it would seem, language of discord with the way governments are leading countries in this world.
In Italy the girl in the gas station is wondering what will happen with her in the state that the Italian government exists..she is in her 20's..
In France the people are stirring in the villages questioning the government. Schools in our area in the South of France being shrunk, due to cuts..they already are so small that many kids have to go to boarding school when they  reach middle school age..teachers are being let go and classes canceled.. Same is true of America...
In England a young person can not even dream of owning a home because of cost.. and gangs rule the streets and public transport..

Camon Village of Roses

Bonnie I finally got around to this one..

This is the village of Camon the village of roses, everywhere you look there are roses.. It is a small village along the way to Mirepoix(for us at least because we always take the back roads)
Actually most anywhere you look there are roses in the south of France..I have 5 varieties in my small garden. One white that has a lovely fragrance and a red/almost black with beautiful smell. The rest are just beautiful..that is enough for me. I sit on the terrace each morning with my coffee and enjoy the view of roses and morning glories. and carnations and the rose of sharon..there is a blue rose of sharon here, very lovely.
Now how does my garden grow? I will take new pics tomorrow.. everything has grown a lot, but I am still behind schedule as the garden was planted so late, but better late than never.,,,,,.more later

Last thursday we were tired of the rain so we got in the car and headed for Perpignon and the coast where we found the sunshine..we were headed for a domain that Didier had told us about but made a decision to go to Rivesaltes to visit the concentration camp that we had stumbled on last year.

the above pics show only a very small section..a lot of it has falled to the ground, but it was used to house Spanish Republicans, then Jews, then Algerians, and very last was abandoned in 2003 I think..

The broken tiles were made in Limoux very near us.. where we shop for groceries..etc

It is a somber place, lots of barbed wire, now abandoned and neglected with blackberries and flowers growing among the tiles, and wire...

We did go on to the domaine, though we did not go all the way to the chateau, we did drive through acres and acres of vines, some so old that the "trunks" were huge. We will go back when Michaels friends John and Cissy Lennon come in September.

The rain has come to stay, we have had small amounts of sun in the last 2 weeks. The up side is that the garden is doing well. Tomatos, cukes, cantalopes, pumpkins, zuchinni,peppers and grapes. I will take some pictures tomorrow if the sun shines!

Saturday we are having the neighbors over for a Virginia style picnic supper. about 15 I expect. I cooked a 14 pound Smithfield ham today and will make some potato salad, and such..Marion is going to bring strawberry shortcake..yum..

We have met a couple that have rented the gite up the street until August. Chris and Helen. they go to French class with me and apero on Wednesday. They came for a visit and now are thinking of relocating here.. They like the warmth of the weather and the people..

I will close with this picture, it is a purple pond ..it is purple because it is wine...in a retaining pond...waste..I will add that there was a very happy duck floating on the water...More later..

Bonnie I haven't forgotten the roses... next time...