Oct 17, 2012 - Back Home...

Hello Everyone, Thanks to all of you who have traveled with me on this trip, and other trips that I have taken. I do appreciate it. I made it home safely. I did not enjoy the flight because a whiny 1 or 2 year old was sitting behind me. I was very tempted to turn around and tell the mother to put a muzzle on that child. I did ask the stewardess if there were any other available seats on the plane. The airlines really should have some flights designated for adults only, no children under 10. On a different note, this concludes this trip...

Oct 15, 2012 - Last Full Day In Aruba 2012

Hello everyone, My trip is winding down. Tomorrow I head home, and I must say that I am ready. I won't get there until wee hours in the a.m. on Wednesday. I've had a great time here in Aruba, met a few nice people, but...ready to go. I've absorbed more foreign energy than I really care for, and the mosquitos have had a field day biting me. I have bites all over me, too many bites to count, seriously. I didn't think to buy bug spray before heading this way. I didn't think about buying any here until like yesterday, by that time, I said...

Oct 14, 2012 - My Chef Prepared Dinner

Hello again, So after I made the earlier entry in the journal, I took a nap for a few hours, and then sat down for my chef prepared dinner. Today I requested a simple pasta dish. As previously mentioned, I had Gruber fish the first night, and had a bit of an allergic reaction to it. By the way, the chef's name is Graciela. Her husband's name is Phillip. The food is very tasty. Angela

Oct 14, 2012 - Sunday In Aruba/Island Tour

Hello everyone, Today I did the island tour...they got the pick up location right this time. Again, it was hot and humid, but we were on an air conditioned bus, so that made the weather more tolerable. I met a few nice ladies who were from New York on the tour. I always meet people during a tour that I can kind of hang out with and chat with. It rained a bit, but by that time, the tour was over, we were on the bus being driven back to our prospective hotels/pick up locations. At least the tour guides here don't try to force things down your...

Oct 13, 2012 - My Saturday In Aruba/Full Day 3

Hello Everyone, Today my surrounding energy was a bit off. I was scheduled to do an Island tour today, the bus was supposed to pick me up in front of the Marriott because they don't pick up from private residences. Well, needless to say, that didn't happen. The guy who booked the tour told me to be in one place, and the driver went to another. That was quite annoying because that little mishap through my entire day off. I had to shift gears and find something else to do. We're going to try the island tour again tomorrow. Hopefully they have...

Oct 12, 2012 - Aruba/Full Day 2

Hello everyone, Today I did not get dressed until 2:00. I was just not in a hurry to get moving today. In addition, I think jetlag set in. I always have at least one of these type of days when I travel. When you travel alone, you can do that...get dressed anytime you like, or not get dressed at all that day. On a different note, there is a guy who lives across the street, somewhat of a peeping tom. As it is quite hot and humid, I usually keep the front and side doors open. The house has an air conditioner and ceiling fans, but sometimes it...

Oct 11, 2012 - Doing Aruba Like A Local

Hello Everyone, Today is my first full day here in Aruba. The weather is hot and humid, about 90 degrees. The rental car company dropped off my car this morning and I drove around the place like I knew where I was going...without using a map mind you. Aruba is a small island, so you can't really get lost, a bit mixed up, but not lost. I had lunch at Wendys, went by the grocery store to buy a few things, and bought most of the souvenirs/post cards. I like to get the souvenir/postcard shopping out the way the first day or two. On a different...

Oct 10, 2012 - Aruba/Day Of Arrival...

Hello everyone, I made it safely to Aruba. It is quite hot and humid here. It was 93 degrees when I got off of the plane. As I mentioned in my previous entry, I had a 5 hour layover between flights. The owner of the house that I am renting, picked me up from the airport, and as of this writing, his wife, who is the chef is preparing dinner now. They have a restaurant next door to the house that I am renting. I went to the neighborhood market, just so that I could have something to snack on until I go to the grocery store tomorrow. I will...

Oct 9, 2012 - Journey To Aruba Starts Today....

Hello everyone, Right now I am still in my pjs, thinking about the few last things that I need to do before I leave. Later today I will be heading for the airport to start my travels to Aruba. I have a 5 hour layover between connecting flights...Ugh! That's not bad considering some of the layover times. I will watch a movie or two, or maybe consider hanging out in the lounge rubbing elbows with the business travelers, and the ritzy, ditzy travelers, who think that they are too good to sit in the general area of the airport. I've done the...

Mar 3, 2012 - Day 7: Willemstad, Curacao

I still don’t get how they get Cour-a-cel from Curacao. They tell me it’s Portuguese but that doesn’t mean diddly to me. Anyway we had a great day today. After getting coffee and (a) toast, (b) French toast, or (c) Danish, we headed to the gym. Although we’ve been walking and doing lots of stairs, we still felt the effects of the bike and the treadmill this morning! I did get on the mat (and made Ralph get down, too!). The stretches were much needed! Then we went to breakfast before heading ashore. This was the only port where the cruise...

Mar 2, 2012 - Day 6: Bonaire

Today was Ralph’s fishing day. I elected to stay on board and do NOTHING! After supper we went up to the Crow’s Nest to hear Charlie Jourdan, the solo guitarist. The nest is an extension of the Explorations Café which also houses the library. The nest was COLD so I moved over to the library where I could hear the music but didn’t freeze. Ralph wandered over and started working on a jigsaw puzzle that was set up on a table. I found a great book – At Home – by Bill Bryson. I loved his Walk in the Woods. This one is fantastic! “Bill Bryson and...

Mar 1, 2012 - Day 5: Aruba

Breakfast this morning was cereal, toast with peanut butter, and lots of coffee! Then we headed down to deck 1 to check out excursions for Puerto Limon. At the talk yesterday on ports of call, they recommended that we not walk around in Puerto Limon – the town hasn’t recovered from an earthquake in ’91 so there’s not a lot to see. The ship stops there because of the tropical rain forest excursions. Ralph and I looked at the options but needed to ascertain how difficult the trips would be. We selected the Rainforest Canopy and Zipline...