Day 2

A back street in Palm Beach

Well we woke up at 8:15 – must have needed our sleep. It was partly cloudy so instead of going to the beach, we decided to travel north to Palm Beach and see all of the huge mansions along the way. It is true that the rich are different and the really rich are really, really different and who lives in all of these massive estates. Words cannot describe the wealth that we saw on the way and in Palm Beach. Bentleys were common place and Mercedes were everywhere!!

We stopped and walked along Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, said to be one of the ritziest shopping areas ever and it and the people looked it.

The Breakers Hotel

After Palm Beach it was on to America’s largest indoor flea market in Pompano Beach. It formally was a huge shopping center and now all of the walls are gone inside and it is one massive set of 500 stalls selling everything. They say 4 million people visit annually.

By then it was back to the hotel to change for the night. We drove into downtown Ft. Lauderdale to the famous street Los Olas Boulevard. This street is about 8 blocks long filled with great shops and really good restaurants. Once again, we ate outside and had a great meal.





Dinner on Los Olas

Tomorrow we head down the coast to Miami Beach, swimming, sun and then South Beach for New Year’s Eve – it should be fun.

Night

New Year's - 2011

The Mustang is loaded

Day 1

The day started in the dark and it was very cold on the outskirts of Merna when we left at 5:30 am. After flying to Atlanta we made it to Ft. Lauderdale just a little past noon. We had to wait a little bit for our rental convertible, but soon we were loaded and on way to the hotel and into our room by 2:30pm.

The Marriott is right in the center of Ft. Lauderdale beach and there are a lot of people here and the weather was 68 degrees when we arrived – wonderful.



The view from our room

Our room is very large with a mini-kitchen and a large balcony on the 15th floor overlooking the beach and the ocean – what a sight!
We had lunch outside at a little stand in front of the hotel and rested for a little while before heading out for the evening.

We ate at a sidewalk restaurant overlooking the beach and the night was beautiful.

Then a walk down the street to see the rest of the restaurants and shops and then back to the hotel for an early evening – it has been a long day and as we look out our balcony, it is 64 degrees!!


Our room is on the 15th floor-center


Tomorrow is the beach.









Christmas - 2010

The ponds by the back door

The television room

 Christmas is such a wonderful time at our house.

We start Thanksgiving weekend and in about 34 hours we have put up all the lights and then it is time to decorate the house. Barb fills the house with the sprit of Christmas and we enjoy if for the entire month of December.

Driving in




The television room

  Since there are so many who have never seen the house at Christmas time, we thought that we would post some pictures so that you could see what a beautiful sight it is.

We hope all of our far flung family and friends had as joyful Christmas as we have had.


The front and west side



From the west

Love and hugs to all and to all a good night.

Barb and Ed






The stockings before Santa

 

The lane in















Santa is almost here!!











































From Barb – Europe 2010 – In her own words

Well, we’re home……always soooo good to be home, and I’ve been able to at least talk to the kid s, so all is well!!!!

Whatta a great trip…I must admit I wasn’t very excited about this trip - what I mean is every other trip we’ve been on had a destination, a place or places we were going that I couldn’t wait for, a place I couldn’t believe I was actually gonna be, but, not so much with this trip…I mean Toulon, been there, of course it was Toulon Illinois but, still….

I’m soooo lucky and that I know but just trying to explain, it was gonna be nice to get away and Ed really needed a break after Gold and Blast…….

Well let me tell ya in some ways this was the bestest trip ever!!!! London was a blast and we got to do things we had missed before and our ship was awesome the crew maybe the best ever, everyone seemed truly happy to be there NOT just doing their jobs. And the casino, the staff was just wonderful and really took great care of us. It also didn’t hurt that I hit for $2,700 the first night.

Can’t tell which stop was the best, ‘cause they all were fabulous, not so touristy but rather like going back in time like way back 600 BC the oldest places in the world, and everyone was so kind and knowledgeable.

Our tablemates were so fun and warm - Astrid and Maurice and also Ian and Vivien and they are already old friends we hope to see again soon, and seeing Heather and Robert from last year was fabulous, only wish we had had more time with them.

It was just an all around beautiful trip, very relaxing, fun, and filled with beautiful people!!!

The only bad part is that we’re not rich and couldn’t take you all along with us, although Ed does a great job on this blog…hope you all enjoyed it with us.

Hope all’s well and happy with you all can’t wait to hug you all!!!

Hugs and Love Barb

Europe – 2010 – Afternoon of Day 15 and Day 16

The pictures are:
1. The bridge
2. Formal night dress
3. Our tablemates

After lunch we came back to the cabin, changed clothes and went on a bridge tour. The bridge on a ship like this is amazing. We were able to spend over ½ hour with a very small group and some of the ships officers on the bridge. While we were on the bridge we found out that there are 2836 people on the ship from 60 different countries. Only 239 of those customers are from the United States, so we are in a minority and it is just fun. Counting the crew, there are 4058 on this ship – amazing it never seems crowed.

Then it was on to the slot tournament final where neither of us won, but of course we had a lot of fun. Later Barb played on the slots and broke even and Ed didn’t play blackjack as there were not any players in the afternoon.

A rest before dinner and then it was dressing for formal night. Barb was in white and it sure showed off her tan!

The show was good and then we had a good session in the casino. Tonight we set the clocks back one hour so it will be good to get and extra hours sleep.

We woke up to cloudy skies so we went to a cooking contest between two of the top chefs. It was fun, but we wanted sun and when they finished, there was sun!!

So, we headed for the cabin and changed and then spent until 3:00 pm out of the deck and it was a perfect last day. The entertainment on the pool deck was fun and the food was great.

Before dinner, we picked up our last set of pictures from last nights formal night and then went dancing.

The last dinner is always sad but joyful when you have such good tablemates. Sad because it is the last night and joyful for all the memories we will have – the will last a life time.

Our tablemates have been really, really enjoyable to be with. Ian and Vivien Streeter from Worcestershire and Astrid and Maurice O’Dea from London. Both couples are delightful and taught us a lot about England and places that they have been. We would love to see them again on another cruise.

The staff of this ship is probably the best of any ship we have ever been on. In addition, the staff of the casino was tremendous. The fact that we are part of the Blue Chip Club has made a huge difference and we are looking forward to many more cruises on Celebrity. We have booked our March vacation on the Celebrity Summit for a week in the Caribbean and also booked today the Celebrity Solstice for next September 5 for a 12 night Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona, Spain.

We got up at 5:30am to be off the ship at 6:30am with the first group. A two hour bus ride and we were at the airport.

Barb will write about the trip tomorrow and post it.

We are now waiting for our plane to fly home. Thanks a lot to everyone who took care of everything and home and at work to make this trip possible. It was one of the best.

Good moring from London - see everyone soon.

Ed & Barb

Europe – 2010 – Day 14 and the morning of Day 15

The pictures are:
1. Inside the Church
2. The city market
3. The city from a watch tower
4. The beach
5. Lunch
6. Going out

We woke up in our last stop, Cadiz, Spain which is located in southern Spain on a sliver of land jutting out into a bay. Almost entirely surrounded by water, Cadiz is believed to be the oldest city in Europe. Walls still stand, protecting and providing Cadiz with a skyline like no other.

The old quarter is composed of picturesque building, parks and gardens intertwined with narrow cobblestone streets and squares.

We found out that walking from one side of the city to the other is like walking in a maze as there are no streets that go straight for very long.

We did not feel that it was worth it to hire a guide as the city was very small and the major things to see were clearly defined.

We first stopped at the tourism office and picked up a walking map of the city. We soon found out that this city is the easiest to find your way around to the major sights as any city we have ever been to. All of the walking tours are clearly defined by lines painted on the sidewalk and you simply followed the colored line for you tour and stop at each significant place and read about it by the map description or a signboard that was erected at the site.

We started out by going to the local market which is typical or a city in Europe. It is amazing to walk in the market and see fresh fish just sitting on the counter and you can touch it, pick it up and just buy what you exactly want.

One of the highlights was stopping at a small church and when we went in, they were holding mass so we stayed for a little while. The church had been totally restored and it was beautiful – not the largest we were in during the day, but certainly the prettiest.

By noon we had walked to the other side of the city and we spend the next several hours at a local beach. Very, very clear water and a fun place to stop.

Then it was back on the street walking towards the other side of the city and our ship, stopping along the way to eat at a local sidewalk café and shop, or course.

Our evening was the same fun pattern of past nights, dancing before dinner with new friends, a great dinner and then a show and finally the casino.

This blog is late because we were up very late in the casino and then Ed got up early to reserve deck chairs because this is a day at sea.

We sat out on the deck until noon and then ate lunch and are now back in the cabin getting ready for the afternoon and evening fun.

This is being written at noon and so we won’t write one tonight but will right one tomorrow, our last day (for this trip) at sea.

The next entry will be tomorrow, late Friday and it will combine this afternoon and Friday as we are at sea and it is just fun.

Europe – 2010 – Day 13

The pictures are:
1. An ice sculpture at the brunch
2. Waiting for our friends for lunch
3. Bob and Heather from Scotland
4. Our afternoon snack

We awoke to wonderful weather as we are heading west towards the Straights of Gibraltar and then north to Cadiz, Spain tomorrow.

What a beautiful day. We were out on the deck until Noon working on our tan, then cleaned up and checked out the brunch that they had for today. This brunch has replaced the midnight buffet of the past. We ate a little, but not much as were to meet old friends at 1:00pm for lunch.

These friends were on the cruise we took last year in September and they were at our table for dinner. They are from Scotland and really very nice. We ate lunch with them and then we all went down to the slot qualifying tournament and then the blackjack qualifier. So far we are both in the finals of the slot tournament but we missed qualifying for the blackjack tournament. This is only the 2nd time ever Ed has missed the finals of a blackjack tournament.

Then we played a little in the casino, went to the buffet for snacks and just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

After dressing for dinner, we met some friends from England in the center of the ship for an hour of dancing. It has been a tradition for us to meet each evening at 7:30pm to dance. They are a wonderful couple and live just outside Southhampton. They even invited us to their house after the cruise but of course we have to get right to the London Airport or we would.

Dinner was as usual, the entainment in the show room was not good and we had fun in the casino and left a little past midnight.

Tomorrow is our last stop - Cadiz, Spain - should be fun.

Night

Europe - 2010 - Day 12

The pictures are:

1. As we left the beach
2. The Cathedral
3. Lunch
4. A boat load of yachts going to the Caribbean – yes the rich are different!

Since the casino was not open last night, we actually got 6 ½ hours of sleep and woke up at 8 so that we could be off the ship at 9. We could not get any cabs to take us to the beach that we wanted to go to; it was too far away, so we took the Celebrity Shuttle bus into town and then walked about 2 miles to a beach that was just wonderful. There is no question that if we cold have a cruise where we cold go to a different beach each day we would love if, especially French and Spanish beaches!!!

At noon we brushed off the sand and took a taxi to the Cathedral, which is the main religious building on the island of Mallorca. It is a massive 13th century Gothic structure constructed on the banks of the Bay of Palma, overlooking the sea about the Arabic walls that protected the city. It has very impressive stained glass windows and the largest rose stain glass window in the world.

After visiting the Cathedral, we ate at a local Tappas restaurant and had a fun meal of fried vegetables and very thinly sliced ham.

Then we walked the old city and shopped and Barb bought several (6) scarves until 3:00pm when it was time to catch the shuttle back to the ship – a great day in Palma.

As we were leaving the port, we had the best sail away party we have ever had. Mallorca is truly a magical place to visit and we hope to someday return.

Dinner, a show with a great violin player followed by the casino and back to the room at 1:30am and time to go to sleep and tomorrow we have a day at sea.

Night

Europe – 2010 – Day 11

The pictures are:
1. Barb and Miguel at a 13th cenury castle we toured
2. Buying pearls

3. The village of Valldemosa

4. Just a couple of the yachts in the harbor

It was another beautiful morning when we awoke. We were still in the Mediterranean and did not dock at the island of Mallorca, Spain until Noon. After breakfast, we laid out on the deck and then had lunch before getting ready to go ashore for our tour.

We were docked at its largest city, Palma and the yachts in the harbor looked right out of a movie. There are 400,000 people living in the town and another 400,000 living on the rest of the island.

Our guide, Miguel met us at the ship at 1:30pm and we set out for a half-day tour of the city of Palma. Miguel and his wife operate their own tour business and he has lived in Palma all his life so he really knew the city and the island.

This is one of the best yacht basins in the Mediterranean and you cannot believe the miles of waterfront dedicated to huge yachts.

During the trip, we stopped at the Mallorca Pearl factory and Barb bought a beautiful pearl necklace, bracelet and earring set. The color is a pink haze.

Then we went across the street and visiting a bull ring which is still in use today as a major “sport” in the country of Spain.

Then after touring the city, we went up into the mountains to visit the small village of Valldemosa. This town dates back a long time ago and in the 1830’s the Spanish government confiscated monasteries and historic estates and they were sold to private owners. Michael Douglas owned a restaurant in this town also. It was a village out of a movie set, located on the mountain side and it was very beautiful.

At the end of the tour, we had Miguel drop us of at the end of the harbor and we walked the entire length, about 3+ miles.

Arriving back at the ship at 6:30 pm we relaxed on our patio for a while and then got ready for dinner.

Dinner was as usual fun and then we spent the rest of the evening on the pool deck at an outdoor party as the ship is staying overnight in Mallorca so there is no casino open.

Tomorrow we plan to go to a famous beach in the morning and then walk around the old city in the afternoon before the ship leaves at 5:00 pm.

Night from Palma.

Europe – 2010 – Day 10

The pictures are:
1. Olives at the market
2. Break time
3. Lunch
4. The beach


We arrived at Toulon, France at 8:00 am and we were off the ship by 8:30. What a delightful town of 160,000.

This town was founded by the Phoenicians in 600 BC!! What an amazing history. We were told that Toulon is located on the most beautiful and well-protected natural harbor in Europe and has been, and continues to be, a center for the French Navy. This is the French Riviera and the tempteture is perfect here. 80 degrees with a light breeze.

Because the harbor holds so many military ships, we had to dock quite a ways from the main center and then take a shuttle bus 20 minutes. Then we hopped on a tourist tram for a brief tour of the area and stopped at the town’s center.

We headed first for the”Porvencal Market” the city’s giant outdoor food and produce market. In addition, there was a lot of “stuff” in open air stalls for us to see. The market probable took the equivalent of 10 – 12 city blocks.

Along the way we stopped into see their main church, the Saint-Louis Church. This and many of the city’s landmarks were bombed during World War II but have been re-built.

It was then lunch time so we ate at a wonderful sea-side restaurant overlooking the harbor and all the huge yachts. We had a local version of a pizza, served with French fries – it was really good.

Then it was back on the tram for a trip to one of their beaches and a couple of hours in the sun. The beach was wonderful, except the only problem was the tram to take us back to the ship’s bus was late. We arrived at the shuttle bus back to the ship with only 5 minutes to spare! We then arrived at the ship 15 minutes before it was to sail – we cut it much, much too close.

Tonight was formal night so it was time to put on a tuxedo and long dress and enjoy the evening’s company. This ship is wonderful in that probably 99% of the people dress for dinner – everyone is very elegant and we really enjoy people watching before dinner.

We had a wonderful dinner, saw a show that was just ok and then went to the casino. Ed lost and Barb won but the night was still fun and we are both ahead for the cruise and hoping to stay that way.

Europe – 2010 – Day 9

The pictures are:
1. Meeting Marta and the driver for the day’s tour
2. The city’s market
3. The Gaudi Church
4. Part of lunch, vegetables and sardines ( and we ate them)

Barcelona, Spain. So far, this is our favorite city on the cruise. It is the second largest city in Spain and while we have been here before, this is the first time we really saw the town. Settlement in Barcelona can be traced as far back as the 4th century B.C. The Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Romans and the Moors all controlled Barcelona at one time.

We were picked up by our guide, Marta and driver in a beautiful new Mercedes and off we went. Our first stop was the huge central market and it had just opened up for the day. It is one of the biggest markets we have ever seen and it was fun walking around it.

Then we walked thru the Gothic Quarter the oldest part of the City and it is mainly a pedestrian area made up of little street and alleys.

Then it was on to the La Sagrada Familia Cathedral, or locally called the Gaudi Church. The Cathedral was begun in 1882 and is still under construction. While the Pope is going to be here in November to consecrate it, final construction will not be completed for another 30 to 40 year. This is a church unlike any you have ever seen.

Lastly we went to the main part of town were Gaudi had built some other important properties and then to eat at a local Tappas restaurant. Tappas is what is called the small portions that they will serve for lunch. I am not totally sure what we ate, but it was good!!

Marta left us after lunch and she was one of the best guides we have ever had.  Her full name is Marta Laurent and her web site is http://www.foreverbarcelona.com/.  What a delight to have her show us Barcelona.

After lunch we walked back to the edge of the port stopping at dozens and dozens of shops along a tree-lined boulevard, which is the center of activity in the port area.

After dancing and listening to music, we joined some new friends that we met in the casino at on of the specialty restaurants called Murano, which costs extra and served contemporary French food. What an outstanding meal and we had a lot of fun talking about trips we each have taken.

Our meal was three hours so we didn't make it to the last show and also skipped the casino to get to bed by midnight to be ready for Toulon France in the morning.

Night

Europe – 2010 – Day 8

The pictures are:

1. Going out during the afternoon

2. Our afternoon "snack"

After a good nights sleep, we were out on the deck by 9:00am and relaxing in the beautiful Mediterranean sun. The tempteture was about 82 degrees, a light wind and no clouds. WOW, what a perfect day to work on our tan.

We ate lunch on the deck and then went in at 1:30pm to clean up and go down to the casino for the slot tournament qualifier and the blackjack tournament qualifier. Unlike previous cruises, they only have one tournament for slots and one for blackjack and there are qualifier tournaments throughout the cruise.

After today’s tournaments, Barb was in 5th place in the slot tournament and Ed was in 2nd place. Ed was also in 7th place for the blackjack tournament.

We went dancing at about 7 and then onto dinner.

We have great dinner partners. Both couples are from England and both live close to London. They are both retired, one from business and one from the army where is held a very high ranking and they have traveled all over the world. Both couple are very enjoyable.

After dinner was the show and then onto the casino where for the first and hopefully the last night we both lost.

Anyway - tomorrow it is Barcelona and the day should be fun.

Night for today

Europe – 2010 – Day 7

The pictures are:
1. Glass blowing on the upper deck
2. Our ship from the Rock with Spain in the background, the airport in the middle and then Gibraltar up close.
3. A baby ape with our driver and guide
4. Another baby ape with Barb

Gibraltar, United Kingdom –

We awoke at 10:00 am and the sleep was wonderful. After breakfast, we watched the arrival from our balcony and seeing the Rock of Gibraltar approaching was really neat to see.

We docked exactly at 1:00pm and met our guide Paul at 1:30 for a tour of his country.

The Rock of Gibraltar is a sight to behold, towering 1,400 feet above the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea.

We started out our tour by driving across the runway at the airport to the Spanish border. When a plan arrives, they simply stop the traffic and a plan lands. We turned around at the border and went back across the runway to start out tour of the Rock.

On our way to the top of the Rock, we saw the Great Siege Tunnels, which were used a long time ago to defend Gibraltar from French and Spanish invaders. There are 370 feet of tunnels in the Rock. We walked for a while and then walked back out when the tunnels turned very steep.

We then went into St. Michaels Cave which is a spectacular natural grotto featuring some very impressive stalagmites and stalactites. During World Way II this was set up as a hospital inside the Rock.

Besides going to the top of the Rock, one of the highlights were the Barbary Apes. The apes of Gibraltar are actually tailless Macaque Monkeys, who have been on the Rock for a lone time. There are 300 of then and they are amazing animals. We were told to watch our things because they snatch anything and we saw them to just that.

From the top of the Rock, you can see Spain and then very close, you can see Africa - what a sight.

We then concluded our day with shopping; however, didn’t really buy anything. The ship then sailed at 6:00 pm.

Dinner was fun as usual, the show was a comedian who we have seen before and he was really, really funny.

Then it was on to the casino where we came out ahead.

Tomorrow it is a day at sea with blackjack and slot tourmanent qualifying sessions so we will enjoy the weather, play and just relax.