So this is life at 40

The last days of summer... spent in Tennessee So, I spent a week in the Nashville area at the end of September and it took me forever to finish writing this post, but here it is... Sunny, dry heat days in the mid 30's (celcius)...very, very nice. Nashville is a pretty & clean city with lots of green space. I was staying in Brentwood which is in the southern part of the city. My hotel was about 8-10 kilometers from downtown Nashville, and next time I would prefer to find a place closer to downtown. Not that my hotel or Brentwood weren't nice, they were. I'll show you some pics of it down below in the pic section. I would like to be able to explore another part of the city a little more. I did ... read more

Barcelona 28 degrees & sunny when we left. London feels cold! I had goose bumps all over and rather than shorts, sandals & sleeveless, people are wearing full pants, long sleeves & sweaters. The shuttle bus from the airport even had heat on... And have I read it correctly, 15 at home?! Good-bye med weather. The 10 best: 1. our amazing weather throughout this trip, 2 weeks of sun & heat. 2. our meals together outdoors 3. cappachinos in Italy 4. the restaurant Babylonia in Barcelona for our amazing food, service & view 5. our wait staff on the ship... especially Sneaky sneaky man (remember him in the movie Birdcage?) 6. my sunset rooftop swim in Barcelona 7. seeing Monaco, Marseille & Barcelona prepare for the Tour de France 8. my afternoon on the French Riviera ... read more

An asylum, hobbits & catapults in the south of France. Last full day on the ship, tonight we head back to Barcelona Spain. I write to you today on the 11th deck on the outside deck just as we pull out of the port of Marseille and the view is of course stunning… Rocky, arid hillside below blue hazy skies with the city sprawled over it along three sides of the ship. This morning I went on an excursion to Les Baux which is about and hour and 15 minutes from Marseille by bus. As we are getting ready to disembark from the ship, one of the crew says it’s going to be hot, hotter than it’s been all week. The good thing is that my excursion is a lot of time in an air ... read more

Cruisin’ in the Mediterranean Day 4. Ahhhh, Tuscany! Stunning countryside made up of large hazy hills, fields of bright sunflowers, green olive trees, grape vines & cypress trees and terra cotta roofs. Those large hills are where Michelangelo got his marble for his statues. Tuscany is somewhere I would come back to for a relaxing vacation in the sun. I know we’ve been travelling north, but OMG it’s been hot! By midmorning I thought I saw a sign that said it was already 33 degrees Celsius. Today is no cooler than yesterday in Rome though. There are fountains in the cities that you can have a sip of water or splash some water on your face. They’re not hard to find, look for the people at them, the fountains are usually very elaborate and I have ... read more

Cruisin’ in the Mediterranean Day 2. Tonight, I blog from deck 11, near the top of the ship as we sail out of Napoli (Naples). I wish I had my camera with me now as I can see the whole city spread out before me. Actually, only a video camera would do this view justice … a wonderful view. But then, I have so many great pics from this trip. It’s hard to believe I’ve been away from home and on vacation for a week already, but there is still another spectacular week to go. Today was a day that will be with me forever. When I was a university student, many of my elective courses were of Roman art & architecture. Today, I got to touch ancient frescos, roman columns, and stepped inside their villas ... read more