Today we are in Funchal, Portugal. It is sunny and warm! We woke up to learn (or confirm I should say) that Obama won. We were up at 7am as we are all on a tour of the island today. Latte's and cinnamon roll and down in lounge by 8am. This is a tropical island, with temperate climate; so beautiful; flowers and banana trees everywhere. Bouginvillas are native here; the flowers are purple. The island has 150,000 inhabitants; average income of 550 Euros per month. Because of this low salary many natives go abroad to work to save enough money to some day come back to build a home. The island is very hilly, each home has a small garden; perhaps bananas, vegetables and fruits. They produce a lot of molasses here. As we climbed the ... read more

Set wake up call for 7am. Grabbed latte' and headed to deck for breakfast. Afterwards, back to room to gather things for our day in Malaga, Spain, birthplace of Picasso. Ken and I are visiting the small village of Mijas. We take a 45 minute ride through scenic pine-clad hills to this picturesque village. It is located in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. The views are spectacular as you look towards the Mediterranean sea. A small narrow road winds us past little whitewashed houses with red tile roofs everywhere. It's a bit foggy because of the drizzle, but occasionally the sun peaks through. We arrive in Mijas and explore the village on foot, although we could have taken a donkey. There are about 10 of them for hire and they all are going: "hee haw, ... read more

Up early, coffee on the balcony. We (only Ken and I went on this one; others did something else) have an excursion in beautiful Palma de Mallorca, Spain. We took a bus to Valldemossa; a beautiful quaint, very expensive, village on top of a mountain. This is where Michael Douglas has a home and he is almost worshipped here. He donated a lot of money to the church when it needed restoration. It is very clean, narrow cobblestone streets everywhere. I wish I could upload the pictures. We walked through the town, toured a monastery, drank lattes. We walked some more and then we had some wine and wonderful olives; I don't even like olives and I swear these were amazing. Our group had reservations at a local restaurant. So fun~ I ate things I had ... read more

After blogging, Ken was still in the cigar bar talking politics with a group of guys so I went to the casino to spend my $20. That's all I ever waste. I got a mango daiquiri. The $20 lasted about 10 minutes, not as long as the drink. We went back for a nap, I could not sleep. We got ready for dinner, but first happy hour at Minnie and Jack's. Annie and Henna decided to do laundry. It was crowded and a long wait to get a washer so Annie brought a bottle of wine. There were 3 other ladies there and she offered them some wine. They said they did not drink. I guess it got so boring or something but one lady asked if she could have some; she asked Annie: it's the ... read more

We left our hotel in Paris, taking a taxi to Gare de Bercy to wait for our train. We arrived at the station around 5 PM; we have 2 hr wait. I had no idea it was going to be an 'open air' waiting area (may be due to construction). There were just a few people waiting so we got a seat. I put on my scarf, gloves, coat and hood. It was cold, probably in the forties and misty drizzle. I got the tickets stamped and we sat down to wait. The people watching is great. It's funny how you can always tell who is American. I must say the Parisians do not smile or laugh much. Very serious. I suppose they think we are loud because we are always laughing. The terminal began to ... read more