Off on an adventure Sort of. Most of the roads in downtown Auckland are torn up which makes walking or driving a challenge. Instead of going walk-about I decided to experience High Tea. There was a large assortment of teas, I chose the Elderberry and Apple infusion, four finger sandwiches; salmon, egg salad, ham & cheese and a chicken curry puff. I don’t do curry. There were three mini scones with clotted cream and an assortment of mini pastries. All were delicious. I decided to take a short nap before deciding on dinner. Thirteen hours later, at five am., sleeping beauty awoke refreshed and ready to go. But I couldn’t head for the port till around noon. So I headed to the business center to print out my luggage tag. For an Apple user Microsoft was ... read more

Four ports in Four days. Dubrovnik, Croatia We stepped out on the pier and into a wooden boat for a short sail to the Old Town. There are now hotels along the coast as tourism continues to grow in importance here. The old town is walled against invaders but during the Balkan war it was besieged by the Yugoslav troops and it took weeks before the siege was broken. Bullet holes are visible on the walls as a re I dear of that dreadful time. In 1666 a massive earthquake devastated more f the Romanesque architecture and the town was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. I would love to show you the wonderful pictures I took but (Drat, Damn, and Oh Sh-t) I deleted them by mistake. That was a first. After a walk around in ... read more

A few of you have let know that you weren’t receiving my blogs. Please advise by email if you get this. Thanks, CAL... read more

My version of January thaw. Greatish start to my winter getaway. Despite high winds our flight was smooth and we landed 1/2 hr early. That put me in my hotel about the time I was scheduled to land. On the way there was the most incredible sunset I have ever seen bar none. The sky was striped scarlet, and bronze and burgundy and gold. Truly awe inspiring. That’s the great part. The ish part was lying awake till almost 4 am. Have no idea what that was about. No coffee or soda fix. Does Sushi keep you awake? Day one. The day dawned to a severe clear blue sky. After a tasty breakfast I asked for directions to a drug store and bank. Off I went and close to 3 miles later I finally found Walgreens. ... read more

Sushine at last. We arrived in Rotterdam and were greeted by sunshine and blue skies. If anything it was too warm. I know. Picky, picky, picky. Walked from the pier, across the Erasmus Bridge and caught the Hop-On-Hop Off trolley. Although it was interesting to ride on an old trolley the announcements were few to non existent. One stop we both wished to do was the area where the Pilgrims set out for the New World. It has a very old church, a windmill and houses that were built before WWII. Most of the center of Rotterdam was bombed in 1940 by the Nazis and later bombed gain by the Allies. Most of the architecture is post war and new buildings are being built. Too bad so sad. Instead we got off at the Euromast, a ... read more