Monte Carlo / Sat Apr 6

This afternoon we docked in Monte Carlo. We'll be here this evening and all day tomorrow.

As we left Barcelona yesterday the wind picked up and it started to pour. The weather was foul all night and even this morning but as we got closer to Monaco the rain stopped. It's cloudy and chilly (high in the 50's) but it was worth going out on our balcony to watch our arrival. Here are some photos as we pulled in.

The Oceanographic Museum

The casino

Sunday we were in Monte Carlo all day so we spent several hours walking around this amazing city. We saw all the highlights including the Oceanographic Museum, the Cathedral where Princess Grace was married and is buried, the Casino, the Palace and the changing of the guard at noon, some of the gardens and statues and the Market. We had a small bite at the Cafe de Paris and saw where the Grand Prix will be held next month.

The Oceanographic Museum

Jacques Cousteau was Director of the Oceanographic Museum from 1957 - 1988.

The Cathedral

Changing of the Guard

Statue of Francois Grimaldi - he disguised himself as a Franciscan Monk and seized the fortress in Monaco establishing the Grimaldi dynasty which has reigned here for over 8 centuries

Gourmet Market near the Casino

The Casino - established 1863. People who are citizens of Monaco are not allowed to enter the game rooms - only foreign visitors with passports can go in.

Lunch at Cafe de Paris - a Monaco hot spot (and tourist trap) next to the Casino

We've got our seats for the Grand Prix!

"Sky Mirror" -by Anish Kapoor located in the in the Place du Casino roundabout. It consists of a concave mirror in polished stainless steel. Its mirror-like surface ‘makes the world turn upside down, giving the illusion of bringing the sky down to street level’.

Beautiful spring display in Louis Vitton window

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Busselton / Tue Feb 19

We tendered in Busselton, Australia today. Busselton is best known for the the Busselton Jetty which was built in 1865. It's more than a mile long and is the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere. At the end of the jetty is an underwater observatory. You can get to it by walking the length of the jetty or by taking the Jetty Train which looks like a Victorian locomotive but is powered by solar panels. We spent the day in Busselton with two other couples. We sat on the beach for a couple of hours then walked into town to explore. We met Walter who was quite the character. After that we had a snack at a local restaurant then took the train to the end of the jetty and toured the underwater observatory before walking back to the tender. Fun day!

Jamestown, St. Helena / Thu Mar 21

Today we're anchored off Jamestown, St. Helena which is a small (10 miles x 6 miles), volcanic island that's part of the British Overseas Territory which includes Ascension (more about that in the next post) and Tristan da Cunha islands. St. Helena is located approximately 1,100 miles directly west of Luanda, Angola, Africa and about 2,000 miles east of Brazil - basically in the middle of nowhere. Population is 4,500. The island is famous because it's the place of Napoleon Bonaparte's exile and death. When our ship's Captain came on the PA system the other day, he described these islands and what they had to offer. He ended his comments by hoping that we enjoyed our time on these two rocks in the middle of the ocean! LOL! We truly enjoyed our time today! We went on a ship tour that took us around most of this scenic island. Again, the pictures cannot convey the landscape's beauty. Jamestown is wedged between two very high peaks. We drove around m...

Travel Clinic

It's Thanksgiving week and we've traveled from sunny, warm Florida to cold and snowy New England to spend the holiday with family. On Monday we flew to Connecticut & then drove to our condo in Vermont where we arrived after dark. It snowed all day Tuesday - very pretty but very cold. On Tuesday we had an appointment at the Travel Clinic at Dartmouth Medical Center. The purpose of the visit was to find out what shots and medications we'd need for our upcoming trip. We anticipated a relatively short visit but two hours later we left with our heads spinning from everything they told us about how to stay safe and not get sick. We were give a large folder full of information with promises of even more that would be mailed to us in the near future. We also expected to get some shots during the visit. Larry had 2 and I ended up with 4! You can see them all lined up in the photo below. They included Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Tdap ( a combination vaccine that protects ag...

Opals and Romeos

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