Hi everyone The last few days of cruising saw us one day taking a little boat trip ( 45 mins) from the ship at Cozumel port- seas were rough and we were plunging over the waves. Then arrivng on the Mexican mainland we had a 1 hour bus ride to Tulum ruins - we had an excellent guide who explained a lot about Mayan culture and history and also told us where to get the best fish tacos and to watch out for the fiery hot salsa Aiee Aiee!! Amazing place - the ruined city was a place of worship and sits atop a cliff with beautiful beaches below and a reef opposite. Clever people these Mayans, they constructed a very accurate calendar , their buildings were covered in beautiful carved glossy black obsidian ( volcanic ... read more

Well .... almost all closed for the season but not quite as we drove from the White Mountains to the coast of Maine and then southwards back to Boston for our last night. Some blue skies greeted us at the Atlantic Ocean at Boothbay Harbour and as one of the few places open it was lunch at the Tugboat right on the water.... could we resist crab rolls and fried Maine shrimp - of course not. These towns along the coast here must be buzzing in summer with their quaint houses, interesting shops selling everything from a million sorts of popcorn to salt water taffy, lobster shacks, whale watching cruises, harbours filled with boats and then of course the light houses dotted along the rugged coastline. There were still only a few folk out and about ... read more

Hi folks What a wonderful drive .... we set off early morning yesterday and took all day in beautiful autumn sunshine to drive along the Kancamagus Highway and then in a loop north from Woodstock , Franconia State Park and back via Crawford Notch and Bartlett , then along Bear Notch Road to our base in North Conway (- probably about 120 miles ) There are many scenic overlooks and waterfalls and hikingtrails along the way....beautiful mountain views and colours of the trees all along the route. The best hike of the day was Flume Gorge - where a basalt dike has cut into the granite at a geological fault and as it erodes more quickly than granite there is a steep sided canyon with the river running through. Wooden walkways and steps enable you to ... read more

Luckily one of my home exchange partners has a house Brewster, Cape Cod and very kindly said yes to my request to stay here for a couple of days ...so here we are in a beautiful condo in a village setting on an ocean golf resort. With only 2 days to explore we will give golf lessons a miss and we set off to drive up the coast to Provincetown making numerous stops along the way at beaches and lighthouses. Just what we imagined it to be like - sunshine on sparkling sea...long sandy beaches with waves of sand dunes and to top it all seals frolicking in the waves a few yards away. Along the tree-lined highway we drove oohing and aahing at the cute little ( and some BIG) shingle and clapboard houses with ... read more

Leaving behind the delights of Najac and the Aveyron Gorges we had 5 days to potter up through the middle of France to get to Calais. The plan was to spend the last few days just north of Paris near Compiegne and visit some friends. Patchwork fields with dry stone walls and bordered with trees reminded us of home ..but then passing through villages with beautiful old stone houses and flower bedecked streets - mostly ville fleuries we knew it was France. I love the large brown tourist signs at the side of the roads - depicting the delights of this or that town or city ...some of them works of art in themselves ...who designs them - is it a state department ?? an arm of the tourist boards?? or are they commisioned...I would like ... read more