In 1998 I took my first walking holiday. The United Kingdom is a good locale for walking holidays, because villages dot the landscape and the paths are protected from encroachments. We drove from Barnstaple, where we stayed overnight, to the beginning of our country walk. At that time I favoured video (digital tape) over still photography (35mm film). Some of the photos in these posts are captured from the video. Today was exactly what I wanted – we started in one place (Prixford) and walked to another place (Saunton Sands Beach ). This morning was in woodland and between hedgerows. This afternoon was across fields, through dunes (grass covered), to the sea. Barbara and I are the only walkers. A pair of sisters and their husbands cancelled six weeks ago because of the death of their ... read more

Our cruise visited the islands of St Thomas, Sint Maarten/Saint Martin, Martinique, and Curaçao - all new to my father and myself. These were relaxed days in Caribbean warmth, dedicated to a mild amount of site seeing. Dinners were events at the end of the day, and my father collected all the menus, which are shown as photos in this blog. Tuesday March 17 Tuesday morning our bags going to the ship were to be outside our room door by 8:30 AM. We left for the Princess ship about 12:30 for Rum lunch. The afternoon was spent getting acquainted with the ship. We booked our tours for the 5 stops on our route. Dinner on board. The ship left the dock at 11:00 PM. We were on the upper deck for the sail out of the ... read more

My tour of the Alhambra had a rough start. A stomach upset from the shrimps I thoroughly enjoyed for lunch on my last day in Morocco kept me close to the hotel for a whole day. That or something else morphed into a terrible cold overnight, when the temperature in the hotel room was far below tropical paradise levels. Feeling cheated of a portion of my holiday, I stole a toilet roll from the bathroom and chose a seat at the back of the tour bus for the two-hour ride from Torremolinos to the Alhambra , a Medieval-Renaissance castle originally built when the area was Islamic. Out the window, the semi-mountainous terrain was picturesque, except for those places were people on top of the hills treated the steep cliffs as garbage dumps, a strange practice in ... read more

Bread rolls and croissants with preserves and café-au-lait and orange juice pursued us throughout the rest of Morocco. Rolling through the countryside was a delight to me. Jean and I usually sat together on the bus, and she didn’t want the window seat. For long periods of time, I looked out the window at the not-quite-desert landscape. I could see “forever” across a barely undulating landscape of a dull cinnamon colour, touched by scrub bushes. Sometimes indifferent goats wandered across my view. Occasionally, in the distance, I saw a large Bedouin tent encampment. Their long, dark tents blended into the landscape, as if they were a natural feature. As we drove through villages and towns, I was intrigued by the variety of women’s dress. Some wore traditional dress and some wore Western styles, even amongst professionals ... read more

Thursday, October 5 I arrived in Torremolinos well after lunch and was ready for a meal about 4 – 4:30. I walked along the promenade for fresh air and to find a restaurant. At the first one, it was both too late and too early to eat. At the second one, Rancho Maritimo, the waiter said “of course” to my request for a menu. The beer was sharp but heavy. I chose hake steak, which was very fresh and deep fried. (Later I saw this dish spelled at various restaurants as hake , hacked, haked, and hack.) The accompanying French fries were marvellously fat, cooked in olive oil. Spanish onions and tomato were the attractive fresh garnish. I picked up sangria and water on the way back to the hotel. Friday, October 6 The breakfast buffet ... read more