On Monday October 1st, the feast day of St Theresa, one of the best known saints, we arrive in Venice. The sky is black as we enter the harbor and there is a light rain. By the time we dock there is some blue trying to make it's way through, but it is cool outside. Now for the hard work of packing. We spend the night here and leave the ship in the morning so today we have to pack. We…
On Saturday September 29th, We sailed from our last stop, after an overnight trip, into a huge water area with many islands. Except for the lack of trees and vegetation the islands look like the San Juans with no beaches and rocky shores. After traveling into the bay some distance, trees and green vegetation appear and the islands look like the San Juans. There are small, flat round islands, without vegetation as well. We anchor in Triluke Bay which is…
We arrived at the port in Split, Croatia around 8:00 am. We have arranged a car and driver to take us by ferry to the small island of Brac (pronounced "bra-ch") and the tiny village of Splitska. This is where my mother's father and mother were born. It is also where several of her older brothers and sisters were born before the family immigrated to Sinclair Island in Washington state. One of her brothers, John, was born on Sinclair and…
Last night was the dinner with the captain. He is a very tall and large man who looks like he should be a tackle on the Seahawks. He appears to be in his mid or late 40's. A very friendly person with an easy smile, he was born in Norway. He lives in Istanbul because he married a woman from Turkey. The other guests consisted of a man and wife from London. He was knighted and therefore is "sir" and she is "lady"…
We sailed from Mongtenegro at 4:00 pm. The captain took a sight seeing detour to the two islands on the way out. When he announced the "detour" I thought of the ill fated Italian captain who put his ship on rocks in Italy, but this detour was without incident. He circled the two islands with the church and monestary which gave us a great view. Afterwards he headed out the fjord towards the Greek island of Corfu. The seas were calm…
Sunday September 24th After we departed Venice, past the cruise ships, gondolas and other variety of boats out of the harbor we cruised at a slow 10 knots.We sailed the Adriatic towards Kotor Montenegro, our first port of call. The seas were virtually flat calm and the weather warm. There was nothing to do except, nap, read and eat. The food on this ship is superb so I've been eating twice as much as I usually do or so it seems….
We flew from Seattle to London on a late afternoon flight arriving in London the next day, Tuesday. We flew business class and the seat configuration on the 747 has the seats facing the opposite way so that your next door passenger faces you only inches away. There is a privacy divider but when the seat is extended flat, it means the inside person has to step over your foot rest to get to the aisle. However, the seats are adequate…
Tomorrow, Monday, we fly to London, then on to Milan, Italy and from there by car to beautiful Lake Como where we will stay for several days. From there we travel by car to Venice and spend another two days before boarding the Seaborn Spirit for a cruise down the Adriatic. At Lake Como we are staying at the Castadiva Resort which is located on six acres right on the lake. It was the residence of a 19th century opera singer, Giuditta…
I know full well that talking about politics is a waste of time because virtually everyone has their mind made up and there is nothing anyone can say or do that will change the already established opinion. But, it makes me feel better to write about things that really bother me regarding the two parties. One of them is Congressman Paul Ryan's continuous gross misstatements of significant historical facts. I won't repeat the list of these in his convention speech, but…
I came across a website, “Want to know info” which had inspirational stories. http://www.wanttoknow.info/060520inspirationalstories There were multiple examples of failure turned into success. Many I had read before, but this was such an excellent collection I recommend it to you. The website says the stories were compiled from two excellent books by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen: Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul and A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul Here are some examples that were described. …
