beentouring's Guestbook

I love Devon...
thanks for sharing!

And the van brings the luggage?
I've never gone on a walking holiday and now might have missed the, um, boat. I was curious about the distance. Google tells me that it's 8 miles by foot, but I expect that's the most-direct route. I was also curious about the season for flax-in-bloom (which I think I've only seen once in the farms north of Winnipeg). I didn't get a clear timeline for this part of the world, but I did learn this: "Flower opening begins shortly after sunrise on clear, warm days and petals are shed in the early afternoon." We usually went in late August for birthday celebrations which explains the scarcity of sightings. And that's an amazing beach.

Learned something today
<> I admit I had never considered what the added buoyancy of saltwater meant for ships. Fascinating. I'm glad your trip included the full transit.

Points of contact
On our one and only Caribbean cruise we also stopped at St. Thomas, St. Martin/Maarten, and Curacao, where I stood and watched that bridge open for harbour traffic. Fun to see it again through your eyes and your Dad's, and to see how cruise-ship menus have evolved. The specifics have changed but the general aura of fine dining sure has not.

San Jose/San Juan
San Jose is not the same as San Juan. We have heard of people who thought they bought flight tickets to the former and ended up in the latter. They still had a good vacation, just a bit different from what they expected. /Ake

Thanks
Thanks for reminding me that I still want to visit the Panama Canal. I appreciate the book recommendation too. Loved hearing you dad's observations. It was fun to revisit Cuba on your last blog. Stay well and hopefully we can all travel soon. Ginny

Music
There's nothing like live music, and the Buena Vista Social Club is a favourite. What a fun way to end your tour. After their experience with some of the abuses of capitalism I can see why they'd be cautious, but it's good to see even small steps to opening up the economy. I think when we were there they were allowing small restaurants in people's homes.

American Cars
When we were in Cuba we sometimes rode in old American cars where I couldn't identify which make it was. I then asked the driver who prompltly answered "Chevrolet Bel Air 1957" or "Ford Customline 1954" in a very proud voice. The Cubans are very proud of their cars and they have every right to be in my opinion. /Ake

Fun video
What a great idea to make your through-the-moving-window photos into a video to be viewed with some imagination. As for Hemingway, I never knew that he was such a touchy writer. Altogether not the happiest of mortals, but his time in Cuba seemed to suit him and his hosts. And "gusty sunshine" - love it.

Catching up :-)
There is some benefit to being behind - I get to see the other comments. It's a good point: We all see and remember different things. Programs don't usually include a formal collective debrief every day, although it can happen informally, as here. The church decorations for Christmas reminded me of Guatemala, and your comment about Daniel not "getting" your touque reminded me of a teacher I met from Yuma AZ. The grade school kids there still read stories about Dick and Jane splashing in the rain puddles on their way to school - but these kids had never seen rain. My Guatemalan hosts understood touques, but they lived at altitude and it was really cold at night in the winter.

Another fascinating day
Again you had (and share) an interesting day that covered a lot of ground historically, politically, and culturally. I admit I smiled when reading about the people who moved inland to avoid the pirates. Pirates are desperately awful and not funny in any sense, but somehow having such an event in one's otherwise matter-of-fact civic history (Oh yes, our town was founded by refugees from pirates) struck me as odd/incongruous in a funny way. How easy it is to lose touch with the felt reality of our forebears.