Monday July 28 – Tuesday July 29, 2008

From the Cruise Log

The last evening in our room we were provided with a very nice souvenir of our trip, a Cruise Log. In this log was listed the departure and arrival time for each port we visited as well as the nautical miles from port to port, for a total of 2,921 miles traveled on our two week cruise. Included inside was the following:

For those guests leaving us in Rotterdam
on behalf of
Captain Olav van der Waard
Hotel Manager Cees Tesselaar,
Cruise Director Teresa Papp
and the entire ships complement we
thank you for choosing
Holland America Line and wish you a safe
and pleasant journey home.

Holland America Line

In the early part of the 17^th Century, Henry Hudson set sail from Holland in a tiny ship called "de Halve Maen." His long voyage across the Atlantic heralded the beginning of the Dutch exploration and settlements in the New World. During this century's great ear of Trans-Atlantic elegance, Holland America's beloved Nieuw Amsterdam II (1938-1973) came to represent all the luxury and magnificence and splendor of that time. Our emblem shows this famous flagship alongside "de Halve Maen ". Together, these two ships symbolize the centuries old seafaring tradition of the Dutch and long-standing friendship between Holland and America.

Our Arrival

By the time I got up and dressed and made my way topside for a look at where we were, it was almost 6am. We were already in the main shipping channel and heading for the Holland American quay on the Nieuwe Maas. Our beautiful mornings of the past eleven days were replaced by a dark foreboding overcast. As I strolled the wet decks on the Lower Promenade, I observed sheet lightening somewhere over the Netherlands, and the rolling thunder. Wow, what a dismal end to a wonderful cruise. The following photographs more aptly portray the mood of the morning.

A little History

After WWII, Rotterdam was a shambles having been the target of repeated bombing raids. Industrious Dutch engineers set to rebuilding the docks (and the city) in 1945. New canals and refineries were installed, but the facilities were too small, so Europoort, the world's largest port, was added.

The tide controls south of Rotterdam are tributes to the remarkable ingenuity of Dutch engineers. The Oosterschelde was originally planned as a dam, but environmental concerns led to redesign. The result was the Stormvloedkering (surge barrier). It is now a mobile barrier that lines the floodplain for 2 miles. In event of high seas, it takes an hour to close the gates.

In the 16^th and 17^th centuries, Delft was home to William the Silent and Dutch master painter Vermeer. Delft tiles and plates are the hallmark of the many gifts Holland America Cruise Ships present to their passengers.

Our Departure

By 9:30am we were off our beloved floating hotel and crushed into the melee at the customs baggage room in the terminal. Our crew had retrieved our luggage from the hallway outside our stateroom sometime during the night and had transferred it to the terminal as soon as we had docked. To facilitate locating ones luggage amongst the thousands of bags, the ship provides luggage tags of different colors. The bags are then sorted by tag color and placed in a group in the terminal luggage retrieval area. All passengers are responsible for accompanying their luggage through customs. Dutch efficiency soon insured that we were out of the terminal and moved to an area where we waited for our transportation. Since it was raining, free umbrellas were offered to everyone, one final gesture of Holland America's "Signature of Excellence".

The speed of our departure from the ship still had our heads spinning as we boarded our tour buses for the day trip to our hotel in Amsterdam. Another trademark of "Travel with Alan" is the caliber of tour companies he deals with. Alan had contracted for two buses for the 47 people in his group, allowing almost everyone to have a "window" seat, plus most European buses have two doors, one in front and one in the center. The configuration makes for very easy entrance and exit. The pictures below are of scenes along the canals, and the Cheese & Wooden Shoes Factory Alida Hoeve, near Amstelveen (with some yummy tasting) and wooden shoe carving demonstration where we visited.

Upon our arrival in Amsterdam, Alan surprised us with a one hour tour of the canals, while our luggage was taken to our hotel.

Our next surprise came when Alan told us that we would have to "hoof" it for a few blocks because our buses were not permitted on the street in front of our hotel the Radisson SAS Amsterdam. We some of us were a little miffed until we saw our accommodations for the night – excellent, and were within a short walking distance for the center of Amsterdam, How great is that?

Waiting for us in the hotel dining room "De Palmboon" were our friends Yvonne Hummels Prent and her son Rob, and Yvonne and John Hill. We had pre-arranged for them to meet us here. Yvonne and Rob live in the Amsterdam area and Yvonne and John had come by train from their home in Brussels. We had met the two "Yvonnes" 40 years ago when we were stationed in Greece. It is a long story but it was a great reunion the forty years just faded away with the recounting of awesome memories. We shared snacks, wine and beer for about two hours. Too soon, John and Yvonne had to catch a train back to Brussels, however after they left Yvonne and Rob had time to take us on an interesting walk about Amsterdam. Rob was very careful to insure that our "stroll" avoided the "red light" district, where the scantily "Ladies of the Night" paraded their wares in street level picture windows. This visit with our friend from long ago was the icing on the cake of our two week adventure.

Alan's final offering for this fantastic vacation was a "farewell" dinner the Restaurant DE Nissen, housed in a 17^th-cedntury building on the Rokin in the heart of Amsterdam, just a short walk from our hotel.

After a wonderful dinner, Barbara and I decided that we would just take our time returning our hotel. It was a wonderfully warm evening, we felt safe and it was such a joy to experience an evening in this wonderful city. Around 16 of our group decided to take and impromptu tour of the "red light district" as one lady in this group had done extensive research on the "attraction", and was able to provide a very professional tour.

The next morning we were up for an early breakfast in the hotel dining room and then we were off to our buses for our trip to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Our ride through the streets provided us with view of a busy Amsterdam on its way to work. All major streets have dedicated bike lanes, and many were the times when our guides had to remind us to "not walk in the bike lanes"!

Alan is a master of getting his group into Airports and in no time at all we were in line waiting for our boarding passes. After a short flight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, and a four hour layover, we were on our ten hour flight heading to Seattle. Our flight crew was in a great mood as they had not flown together for some time. We once again were treated to very good SAS hospitality, even though we were in "Economy".

Arriving at SeaTac around 4:30 PM, I was a bit concerned as to how our encounter with Customs and Immigration control would go, but my fears were soon allayed and we were quickly on our way to make our connection with Kenmore Air – 4 hours later. This gave Barbara time to catch up on her journal and for me, some much needed exercise. Our flight to Port Angeles was somewhat of a cliff hanger as it was on instruments all the way with a pilot who looked to be about 14 years old! The clouds cleared when we arrived over Ediz Hook and the Coast Guard Station. Minutes our young pilot made a perfect landing – guess he must have been older than I thought.

It is great to be home, with all our familiar surroundings, but we are ready (almost) to go again.

I hope you enjoyed my writings and pictures as much as I did posting them…… now it's on to planning for Antarctica in February.

"Some experiences simply do not translate. You have to go to know" -- Kobi Yamada

Making last minute hotel reservations is a bummer. Finding an affordable hotel room in a major city for later that night is a task of such extreme difficulty and logistical finagling that you'll feel like you're on an episode of I Wanna Work For P. Diddy, only the grand prize is a room for your parents at the Radisson Times Square. The only up side is that when you finally do manage to book a room, you can make a lot of jokes about being exactly like Mary and Joseph, who are pretty much the classic example of spacing on accommodations. Bring on the myrrh humor! Also a Magi-related unbummer: frankincense humor.

The thinking behind the collection was quite simple; I got inspiration for the layout from a modernist poster and each texture represents the different themes that I think Collage Bar embodies, urban, classy & stylish.

It's nice to pull up under that portico where there is always a doorman ready to help you with your bags or in an out of a taxi. The main lobby area is open air in the sense that the breeze passes through from one side to the other. There are gathering spaces like these for informal meetings, relaxation, and just hanging out.

Jewelry lovers will note the Diamonds International Store there in the background. Opposite this photo on the left side (not shown) is the casino. But let's pass through the other side of the lobby to the outdoor spaces which feature plenty of flowing water and more gathering places like this.

Can you see yourself having a beverage here? I can. Anyway, there's more, like this bar which typically features live music every night.

And then there are the swimming pools with the shallow entry points like this one.

And then there is Gilligan's Restaurant which fronts the beach. Good place for a lunch between sun and fun.

They have some fantastic photos from days gone by on display here. Take the time to check them out. Finally, you're under a palapa hut on beautiful Palm Beach. Doesn't get much better than that.

Unless you need some spa treatments, in which case the Larimar Spa is on site and ready to take care of your needs.

I would say that the Radisson is a balance between the high-rise and low-rise hotels in Aruba. It has all the features of a much bigger establishment but still has a low-key feel. Just wanted to show this option to those of you who ask me about places to stay in Aruba.

Keep checking for more updates as I will be covering all types of accommodations on the island.

Neue Top-Hotels in Rumänien, neue Homepage für Österreich.

Zufrieden streicht sich Simion Giurca den Bart. Der Direktor des Rumänischen Fremdenverkehrsamtes in Wien und Präsident des Corps-Touristique Österreich lobt die pikanten Nudeln im China-Restaurant Zum Kaiserlichen Thron im 7. Wiener Bezirk – und kann gute Neuigkeiten aus Rumänien berichten. „Jetzt“, sagt er „passiert eine große Qualitäts-Offensive. Namhafte Hotelketten setzen auf Rumänien. In Bukarest eröffnet Radisson ein Hotel, vier bis fünf weitere im Top-Segment folgen - darunter Kempinski und die zu den Starwood-Hotels gehörende Kette Le Meridien." Auch die Ramada-Kette expandiere weiter, so Giurca.

8 mal Ramada. „Derzeit gibt es drei Ramada-Hotels in Rumänien, fünf weitere sind in Planung.“ Durch Förderungen und EU-Unterstützung werde auch die Unterkunftsqualität im ländlichen Bereich angehoben. „Heuer eröffnen 1200 neue Pensionen. Insgesamt haben wir dann um die 10.000 großteils im 2 bis 3-Sternebereich, viele aber auch mit 5 Sternen bzw. Margeriten bei Agrotourismus-Betrieben."
Zur Zeit ist Simion Giurca intensiv als Texter beschäftigt. Demnächst will er die neue Österreich-Homepage des Rumänischen Fremdenverkehrsamt freischalten, die er großteils selbst textet. Giurca:  „Das soll eine moderne, sehr informative website werden.“ Die Adresse gibt es bereits: www.rumaenien-info.at

milosh (mike milosh & paul pfisterer) in the coney island suite at the radisson sas, sligo for new spaces

The planning for Lisa Hannigan's gig has me thinking about the first new spaces for music performance that we did to start the series back in April.  It was pre-blog for us so we haven't written about it before now, but we did just dig out the photos and post them up on flickr if you want to have a look see.

The concept behind new spaces for music is to get the audience and the musician thinking about the notion of a "gig" in a different way. Of course the easiest way to do this is often to subvert the actual performance space, so the formal idea of performers on a stage and an audience lined up in front of them, is no longer there, and out with it go the norms of a gig:how to behave, how to experience.  The other notion for the series is to play with the spaces in which we hear and encounter music. Music is inescapable, with many of us listening to it every day on the radio, on the television, in shops, at work, in the car...it's all around us in recorded format yet we might not encounter live music from one end of the year to the next. 

The first new spaces comprised of 2 performances from electronic act Milosh, held in the Coney Island bedroom suite of the SAS Radisson Hotel and Spa in Sligo. I love the idea of hotel bedrooms, they convey an immediate sense of intimacy, and a break from routine; the possibility of something unexpected. The perfect start for new spaces then.

An audience of 25 was all the suite could hold, and for that to happen the audience had to pile on the bed together, sit on the floor, or sit at the bedroom table. Thankfully they were all open to it, and in the end the first place they headed for was the giant double bed!  As you'll see in the pics the room is big, but not that big, so the whole idea of a stage or a separate performance area went out the (very large) windows, we were all in it together.

While the audience were putting themselves out there, so were Milosh.  A largely electronic act, Milosh usually play live with samplers, plenty of gear and lots of effects. For the new spaces gig they stripped things down, using just voice (mike) and guitar (paul) to stunning effect.  There were two gigs, one at 7pm which showed of the astonishing scenery to full effect (see the pics-especially this one- not photoshopped I promise) as their backdrop, then a later one at 9pm when the sun had gone down and the candles came out.

They'll certainly go down for me as two of the loveliest gigs I've ever been a part of. The whole setting felt really inclusive and warm, and audience and musicians alike seemed to relax into the vibe and just let things unfold in their own good time.  I'm secretly wishing all hotel rooms came with a complementary live act. Here's hoping the hotel gods are listening.

Las calles de Isidora Goynechea y Av. El Bosque son la intersección de uno de los puntos mas importantes del Santiago Contemporáneo. Aparte de ser geográficamente el punto de la concordia entre las comunas de Vitacura, Las Condes y Providencia, es el nuevo centro de desarrollo comercial denso de nuestra capital. En este lugar se están construyendo dos de los proyectos mas ambiciosos en lo que arquitectura se refiere. Uno de ellos es el Edificio Titanium (que previamente se llamaría "Portada de Vitacura") que tendrá, aproximadamente a finales del año 2009, unos 191.7 metros de altura, superando a la actual torre mas alta de Chile, Boulevard Kennedy, donde se encuentra el Hotel Marriot, que alcanza la altura de 145 metros. Además se construye la torre más alta de Latinoamérica y el hemisferio sur, el proyecto Costanera Center, que será un conjunto de torres pertenecientes al consorcio CENCOSUD, una de las cuales medirá aproximadamente 300 metros de altura, torre que incluirá un mall de tres pisos, hotel y oficinas. Las otras torres alcanzarán alturas como 165 y 158 metros de altura, generando una revolución arquitectónica en la zona.

Para continuar, el barrio El Bosque no sólo se concentra en estos dos proyectos, también está el casi terminado edificio Territoria 3000, y los ya clásicos miembros del ilustre "skyline" santiaguino como lla torre CCU, el World Trade Center Santiago, la Torre de la Industria, el Hotel Radisson, el edificio Citybank, entre otros. Si bien, es una zona comercial desarrollada, también en este barrio abundan locales recreativos de diversión nocturna, entre ellos Playback, etc. (ver "Ocio y Diversión").

El Bosque es una larga avenida que atraviesa Vitacura y Providencia, el Bosque Norte, cuando termina, intersecta con Av. Vitacura, y es el sector comercial de oficinas, a diferencia de El Bosque Sur, que es una zona con proyectos residenciales medios, bajo la ley de construcción de la comuna de Providencia. Entre ellos podemos disfrutar de cómodos inmobiliarios como Edificio El Bosque, y Parque Las Lilas.

Para concluir, podemos determinar que la buena administración comunal y el modo de vida al que están sometidos los residentes del Barrio El Bosque han demostrado que se puede combinar la comercialización y la residencialización en torno a un buen plan municipal de aseo e higiene pública, y que el desarrollo vertical de Santiago es la mejor decisión a lo que ambiente y calidad de vida se refiere.

EL FUTURO COSTANERA CENTER

Escrito por:

Álvaro Saavedra Jeno

INTRODUCCIÓN

Bienvenido a la combinación perfecta del lujo y el descanso en los hoteles asociados. El Hotel Radisson SAS se situa en pleno campo Golf Disneyland y a muy pocos minutos en autobús de los parques Disney y del Village.

Su arquitectura clásica recrea los edificios del SXIX en Paris rodeado de lagos y campos de golf creando un paisaje único ideal para los negocios, turismo de golf, vacaciones en Disney… gracias a su comfortabilidad.

LAS HABITACIONES

El Hotel dispone de un total de 250 habitaciones con magníficas vistas a los campos de golf. En las habitaciones standard encontraremos una cama de matrimonio, en cambio, en las habitaciones familiares encontraremos también una cama de matrimonio más un sofá-cama. Las habitaciones se completan con acceso a internet, cuarto de baño con secador, minibar, televisión de pantalla plana,  caja fuerte, aire acondicionado.

A parte de las 250 habitaciones repartidas en un total de 3 edificios, 9 de estas son Junior Suites y 8 Suites.

RESTAURANTES & BARES

En el hotel podemos encontrar:

• Rostisserie Birdie: Con capacidad para 200 personas donde se realizará el desayuno
• Restaurante Pamplemouse: Con capacidad para 88 personas en el que se sirve comida internacional de calidad y una gran exquisitez, siendo el lugar ideal para realizar el almuezo y la cena.
• Le Chardon Bar: Abierto de 11h a 00h para poder tomar un snack, cocktails por la noche…

INSTALACIONES & OTROS SERVICIOS

• Servicio de Habitaciones
• Botones
• Piscina Cubierta
• Parking
• Baño Turco
• Sauna
• Golf Disneyland
• Acceso Wifi
• Club Infantil
• Zona de juegos en el exterior
• Gimnasio
• Lavandería

INFORMACIÓN ÚTIL

Dirección: Allee De La Mare Houleuse - Magny Le Hongre, 77700
Teléfono: 00 33 1 6 04 36 400

I have stayed in many hotels and ate at many restaurants.  While I always try to enjoy the local cuisine and if I can stay in the unique hotels, there are times where I do visit or have to visit the national chains.

What I have found, in my opinion, is that of all the hotels out there, consistently, Hilton and Holiday Inn's tend to be the best.  I have had the best sleep, accommodations, food and experiences in these two chains.  I've stayed in Marriotts, Raddisons and others, and I have stayed in some very good ones, but they are not consistent across the country. 

As far as restaurants, of the national chains, Applebees and Chili's have been the best.  Again, they have been consistent and their selections are broad.  I find that their food is tasty and flavorful.

Some of the other national chains lately have been messing with their menus, like TGIFriday's and Ruby Tuesday's.  They have cut down on their choices and reduced their menu.  I have been very disappointed with them lately.  I can understand why they have cut back on their menu, what with the food prices increasing and all.

That being said, I recently went to breakfast at a diner just outside of Brooklyn NY and ordered a Spanish Omelet.  What I like about a Spanish Omelet is that it is made, at least in all the other breakfast establishments I have dined in, with a  mix of cheese, peppers, onions and salsa and then I love to pour Tabasco Sauce all over the top of the omelet.  So good.

So back to this diner outside of Brooklyn.  I placed my order of a Spanish Omelete and opened my newspaper and read for a short while, waiting patiently for my breakfast to arrive.   

After a short while, my waitress returns with my plate and lays it before me.  I look at my plate and notice that there is an egg.  On top of that egg is grilled peppers, grilled onions and ......................... wait for it..................  grilled celery.

My waitress turns to leave and I stop her.

Me:  Um...... excuse me.  I ordered a Spanish Omelet.

Her:  That's it hon.

Me:  It is?

Her:  Yeah.

Me: (looking at it for a moment before turning to the waitress and saying)  From what part of Spain?

Perder una madre... huérfano...
Perder una esposa... viudo...
Perder un padre... huérfano...
Perder un esposo... viuda...
Perder un hijo... no existe palabra alguna que lo describa! Pon tu corazón en acción... marca la diferencia...
Estimados Todos, sólo las personas que somos madres conocemos el sufrimiento y desesperación que pasamos solo cuando nuestros hijos sufren de alguna fiebre o gripita, pues imagínense que nos digan que nuestros hijos están a punto de morir y no tener los medios suficientes.

Sé que varias personas de Ustedes tienen muchos amigos con quienes comparten emails, por favor, apoyemos a esta pobre madre.

Gracias.

Para los amigos:

Hola. Soy una madre 28 años de edad, mi nombre es Silvia de Carranza, soy de El Salvador. Trabajo en el área de Recursos Humanos de el Hotel Radisson El Salvador.

Mi esposo y yo hemos tenido una vida maravillosa juntos. Dios nos bendijo con un hijo. El nombre de nuestro hijo es Mauricio, tiene 3 años, hace mucho los doctores le descubrieron un cáncer en su ojo, no pudimos tratárselo como se debe debido a nuestros Limitados recursos económicos. Con el tiempo este se ha extendido y esta a punto de llegar al Cerebro. Hay solo una manera de salvar la vida de mi hijo.

Esta es con una operación y un tratamiento muy costosos que le harían en el Hospital Shrine Children's Hospital en Houston, sin embargo no contamos con los recursos suficientes para eso. Por lo que solicitamos ayuda a las más grandes empresas de Internet. AOL, ZDNET y AMAZON han estado de acuerdo en ayudarnos, pero como condición nos piden que enviemos esta carta a todas las personas que conozcamos y estas a su vez a sus amigos ya que AOL rastreara este E-Mail y por cada 3 personas que reciban este mensaje AOL nos donará US$ 32 centavos.

Ayúdenos por favor!!!,
Estamos Desesperados, 2 minutos de su tiempo le pueden salvar la Vida a mi hijo.

¡Mándalo a todo el mundo!

PD. Pueden comprobar esta información llamando a los
Teléfonos del hospital:

Shrine Children's Hospital
Telephone (830) 709-22 FAX (830) 709-2272
Postal address P O. Box 1663 Lytle, Texas 78052-1663

Nada cuesta Solo un minutito... algún día Dios los Recompensara. Reenvíalo por favor!

Pues ahí está con todo y sus faltas de ortografía siempre me da la tentación de corregirlas ;)

¿Porqué es un correo falso?
- ¿Qué compañía en su sano juicio va a seguir el mismo “modos operandi” de todas las cadenas falsas: El regalar (donar) dinero por cada recipiente de correo que sea recibido?
- Si esto fuera verdad, que me digan cómo le va a hacer AOL para rastrear todos los correos. Deben tener un poder de cómputo tan grande como en el NSA en Estados Unidos.
- La marca registrada de el Hospital Shriners es “Shriners Hospital for Childrens” y no “Shrine Children’s Hospital”
- El real tiene un hospital en Houston en 6977 Main Street y no en la ciudad de Lytle donde, por cierto, la población tiene sólo 2500 habitantes según el censo de 2005. ¿Qué va a hacer un hospital para niños ahí si es que en verdad quieren ayudar?
- La clave de ciudad 830 coincide con la Lytle en Texas, pero la de Houston es 713. Se equivocaron los papás. Les interesa tanto recibir ayuda que se preocuparon por poner los datos correctos, tanto de la ciudad como de los teléfonos. Ha de estar en realidad en “Neverland” de Michael Jackson que en breve cambiará de dueño porque no ha pagado la hipoteca
- Curiosamente el teléfono 709-2272 coincide con la compañía Off Road and Machine en Newark en el estado de Delaware.

Otro más en la colección… no hay que creernos todo lo que nos llega porque lo único que logramos es el donar pero nuestro correo a Spammers.

In the meantime our landlord has hoved into view several times this afternoon to dangle off of the decking and stare in rapt amazement at the newly shorn hedge and the lawn littered with bits of dead hedge.  He even came round with the mad lumberjack guy, who waved and smiled as he showed off his handiwork.  He looked a bit disappointed to see that it was just me and Janet around and not the kids.  Perhaps he was hoping that I'd let him have a go on them, a la a bouncy castle or trampolene.  Sadly, his luck was out and he must just go home and pester his own children, who are probably hiding from him as we speak.

The landlord disappeared at one point, and I felt rather relieved, and then about five minutes ago he rounded the corner of the deck toting some large sun loungers.  As he was wearing a very sharp pin stripe suit and carrying a mobile at the same time he looked rather incongruous, a bit sheepish and rather like in the battle between him and the sun lounger, the lounger was definitely winning.  I do wonder whether this house rentals stuff is a new one on him.  In my experience he dresses far too snazzily for a landlord, and he doesn't appear menacing or frowny enough.  When I lived in Wales and shared a flat with four of my friends we had a landlady who had been in the army and who was very fierce.  She thought we were beating my friend Justine, who was very quiet and timid and who didn't get out much, which is probably why she thought we were beating her.  She would randomly break into the house and shout: 'What have you done with Jacinta?  I know you're up to no good...'  We would all be terribly confused by this as we didn't know anyone called Jacinta to do anything with.  Things became marginally less confusing when Justine ambled through the living room sleepily during one of her raids and she pounced on her and said: 'My God, Jacinta, are you alright?  You look terrible.  Are they treating you o.k.?'  Justine mumbled: 'Who?' and carried on.  It was all very perturbing, just not for Justine.

My friend Janet who was visiting with her dog at the time of this afternoon's lightning raid, and pointed out that he really should ring ahead if he wants to bob about on our deck in his sharp suit, as we have the house in our custodianship at present.

I thought about making a fuss about it.  After all, what if Jason and I had somehow managed to get rid of the children by selling them on a road side stand and were indulging in some sordid sexual practices on the living room rug at the time?  To be honest the likelihood of offloading the kids is slim to none at the moment.  We do all right with the girls, but Oscar is too much of a handful for anyone with any kind of infirmity at the moment.  Also, if we did get rid of the kids you would be more likely to find us slumped in front of the television, snoring, dribbling and covered in fine layers of winceyette pyjamas than dangling from the light fittings in our birthday suits.

Tallulah is entranced by the term birthday suits at the moment and keeps doing multiple pictures of people in their birthday suits in her notebook.  This notebook is supposed to be her travel diary in pictorial form, which she is going to take to school to show Miss Curry.  We will probably all be arrested, although I had a quick flick through it earlier when she was out and I really can't tell much difference between the regular pictures and the birthday suited pictures so far, so unless she gets anatomically more daring in the next fortnight we should be safe.  The other thing in her notebook is a page which says: 'I called Tilly a Lovely Teddy.'  it is written very carefully and painstakingly.  Apparently it should read: 'I called Tilly a stupid pig', but she couldn't spell that, and stupidly asked Tilly to spell out the letters for her so that she could copy them into her book.  Tilly did the switch with a straight face and then sent Tallulah to show Jason her book.  At which point Tilly came up the stairs behind her chortling with glee at the amazing double cross she had just pulled off.  Fair play Matilda.  Ten points for evil deviousness.

Today has been very lethargic.  Janet was coming over this afternoon so we didn't really have time to do much.  We always have late mornings and don't really get going until about eleven.  This meant we had time to go and eat lunch and then come home before Janet arrived.  We chose the Spitfire Grill over by the airport.  This is one of Nana's recommendations, but one which left quite a lot to be desired.  Still, two out of three aint bad.  The location was cool, as it's right on the runway and the kids were kept busy watching the planes and helicopters taking off (rather more entertaining than crayons and colouring sheets, which was a good job as there weren't any).  The food was not cool, despite the fact that the place was packed.

Jason had burger and fries, his standard, his best and his favourite.  Unfortunately it was cheap beef and horribly overprocessed fries.  He ate two mouthfuls and left the rest.  I had a very strange wrap which was basically a sort of thai curry with prawns and rice wrapped up with lettuce and tomato, which had gone all warm and squishy, and served with a salad consisting of a dry piece of tomato and two small lettuce leaves shredded into a finger bowl.  The kids had unappetising kids things with curly fries which were luminous orange and tasted of grease.  Not my hot tip for dining delight.  Jason was very cross, not only that he paid for lunch, but because he blames me for having educated his palette enough to know that this food was hideous.  He says that five years ago he'd have eaten it and thought it was a top treat.  He is not impressed.  I am hoping that his palette continues to be educated and that he takes me to bigger and better eating places every year.  I am suddenly looking forward to old age so much more.

When we got home from lunch I sent the girls out to explore the garden.  They picked me large bunches of flowers and made daisy chains.  Then they started on beds for fairies which as Tallulah said when Jason said they had to tidy up what they had been playing with: 'But Dad.  These aren't toys.  These are real beds for the fairies and I can't astirb them or the fairies won't come when I'm not lookin'.'  Good girl!  So now we have a fairy hotel and citadel outside the front gate which I hope the landlord hasn't tidied away on his flying visit or there will be hell to pay and the fairies will have to check in at the Radisson down the road.

AUD Dorms

The Radisson SAS, Media City, is right across the street from the dorms. They have a nice open air lounge on the 8th floor, and ground level Italian restaurant, Certo.

Radisson SAS Hotel

Dubai Media City sits mainly along the backside of the AUD campus. It is home to CNN, MTV Arabia, Reuters, Associated Press (AP), and hundreds more.

Dubai Media City

At the base of the dark tower on the left side, there is a Lebanese restaurant called Al Merkaaz. We go there often. It is a nice restaurant with three areas: indoors, patio, and outdoors. We sit indoors when going on special occasions since the seating and environment is fancier. The patio is usually preferred, since there is a TV with crazy movies playing. Here people frequently work on their laptops, while smoking sheesha. It's a good place to study, play cards, hang out, etc. since they love your company. Last night I was there for 5 hours. Other times I have spent 6 and 7 hours there. Since Al Merkaaz is right across the street from the Dubai Media City Park, the outdoor section is an amazing place to listen to the dozens of concerts that take place in the park. Last night we heard t.A.T.u., DJ Aligator, and Dr. Alban live in concert. A month ago at the Dubai Jazz Festival we chilled at Al Merkaaz while listening to David Gray.

Smoking Sheesha at Al Merkaaz during the t.A.T.u Concert

HSBC

Right outside the dorm gates is the Middle East HSBC Headquarters. I have banked online with HSBC for over a year and a half. I have never seen a branch in the United States, but in Dubai its conveniently the closest building to campus and there are dozens of HSBC ATMs all over the city. This has given me fee-less access to money while other students are paying USD$5.00 per transaction.

Grenada is known as the Spice Island, so no first time visit is complete without a little spice added to it! Again, after researching our options, we decided to go with a local tour guide. Mandoo started our excursion at the still operating spice plantation. We had a show and tell (and smell) of the local spices by Mandoo and afterwards were able to purchase spices to bring home.
A very scenic drive led us to Grand Etang Lake next, where we had the pleasure of seeing the adorable Mona monkeys. Mandoo and his guides stopped on the way there to pick up some fresh bananas for both the tourists and the monkeys to enjoy. Concord Falls was very pretty, but unfortunately we had some rain that day and it cut our stop there and the rest of the tour short. Mandoo was very knowledgable and professional and perhaps some day we will see more of Grenada on one of his other tours.

Bonaire is part of the "ABC" islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) in the Netherlands Antilles. It's pristine reefs and clarity of water offer a divers paradise. The waters around Bonaire are designated an official marine park. Bonaire is a small island (only 111 sq. miles) and unless you are interested in marine life there's really not a lot of other excursion options. However, you do not have to be a scuba diver to enjoy the unspoiled treasures "under the sea." There's terrific snorkeling right off the shore. We decided the best option for our group was to head to El Eden Beach, a quick taxi ride from the pier. Some of us had snorkel gear along and some were able to rent quality equipment at El Eden. The snorkeling was wonderful right off the beach. And, for those not interesting in snorkeling, there were lounge chairs, beach bar and restaurant and facilities to use. The water was so clear that the colorful Parrot fish could be viewed from the dock.

Aruba, our last port of call...! Beach lovers will enjoy beautiful Aruba as a cruise port or destination for a land package. We had a nice full day in Aruba (7 a.m. until 7 p.m.) and decided to take advantage of that. Prior to departing for our cruise, we pre-reserved the Swim, snorkel and swing excursion on the Jolly Pirate through Celebrity's excursions. We reserved the late afternoon time as an open bar was part of the excursion. After a leisurely breakfast, we disembarked the Summit and took a taxi to Palm beach, found a nice area to rent chairs and enjoyed the sand, surf and sun. You can walk the powder white sand strip of Palm beach for what seems like forever. There are numerous hotels, resorts and watersports stands along the strip. The public can use the fresh water showers and facilities at some of the resorts (like the Radisson, which is beautiful, by the way) but others like the Riu are closed to the public. After a very enjoyable morning, we caught a taxi in front of the Riu back to the ship for lunch, and to meet up for our shore excursion booked through the cruise line. While we were on the beach, we did see signs for the Jolly Pirate excursion and at first thought that we should have forgotten about the cruise line excursion and just caught the Jolly Pirate from Palm beach. We later discovered that we would have missed out on part of the fun had we done that.
Our excursion through the cruise line included transportation on the "Banana Bus" which was brightly painted and "open air" bus.
On the way to the Jolly Pirate, the driver played some nice tunes and everyone was happy enough with our ride to the excursion.
However, the ride back to the ship after the Jolly Pirate (and open bar) was a total blast! Every passenger on the bus sang along with the songs pumping out of the speakers the entire way back to the ship. Tourists and locals alike waved and hooted and hollered at us as we passed by. What a way to end the day in Aruba! Oh wait, I didn't even tell you about the Jolly Pirates!
Our excursion on the pirate ship included snorkeling at the Antilla, also known as the German Shipwreck or Ghost Ship and at a reef. After snorkeling, the crew took us to a quiet cove to "walk the plank" or to be more exact, swing of the plank. The crew also showed off by performing back flips and dives off of the swing. What fun!! Especially after a few Pirate's Poison drinks!

The last day on our 7 night cruise was our one and only full sea day. After our eco-adventures, touring, shopping, sunning, snorkeling and swinging in our ports, it was a very relaxing way to wrap up our cruise. I highly recommend this itinerary and ship to anyone that has cruised before and is looking for a nice ship, great service and food and a wonderful combination of Caribbean islands to experience and enjoy.

To make your reservation on the Summit's Southern Caribbean itinerary, or any other cruise for that matter, contact Amy
at A Room With A View - Cruise & Travel!

I'm still feeling like crap, but I've got the energy to sit here and watch the Carolina game.  I'm strong like that.  And Virginia Tech is shooting the lights out in the first half.  No worries though, many teams have thrown a solid first half at the Heels this year, only to fade after the break and watch Carolina run away.

Only four hours til I get a plane back home.  Time to kill.  And the bizarre Kansas City airport is not the place I want to do so.

The Radisson was quite nice...until an hour ago.  Check out time is 12 - I had mine extended to 1 so I could get a little extra rest.  Housekeeping banged on the door repeatedly at 12:05.  I kept saying "A few minutes, please" but got no respect.  Eventually the housekeeping supervisor came by and continued the barrage.  I opened the door and the woman instantly started barking: "You have to go.  Check out is 12!  People are waiting to check in!"  Apparently once the check out bell rings, I'm no longer a paying customer and should see myself out.  I mentioned this to the front desk.  Probably the last time I try the Radisson.

Back to the game.  VT can't keep this up.  Look for a big Carolina run after the half.

Kurt Westergaard, Aarhus' mest berømte søn, smidt ud af hotel i "smilets by". Fra Sappho:

OPDATERING:

Tlf:	+45 8612 8665
Fax:	+45 8612 8675
Email:	reservations.aarhus@radissonsas.com
Web:	aarhus.radissonsas.com

Booking af konferencer og værelser
Booking & Reservation	+45 8936 2040	Reservations.Aarhus@radissonsas.com
Flemming Poulsen	+45 8936 2067	Flemming.Poulsen@RadissonSAS.com
Rikke Brøbecher	+45 8936 2342	Rikke.Brobecher@RadissonSAS.com
Lene Strunge	+45 8936 2041	Lene.Strunge@RadissonSAS.com
Thomas Simonsen	+45 8936 2041	Thomas.Simonsen@RadissonSAS.com
Maj-Britt Fransen	+45 8936 2043	Maj-Britt.Fransen@RadissonSAS.com
Kristina Thomsen	+45 8936 2044	Kristina.Thomsen@RadissonSAS.com

 Det er ikke forbudt at kontakte dem, og sige sin mening. Det er ikke engang forbudt at tage telefonnumrene og ringe dem op et efter et og sige sin mening.

Endnu - når EU-traktaten  træder i kraft - bliver det sikkert anderledes.

Images reflect only a small portion of their entire wedding day.

Inne niż wszystkie fotografie Szczecina. Zobacz jak wygląda Szczecin od kuchni. Szczecin pokazany inaczej sam sprawdź - fotografia Szczecina inna niż wszystkie...

Ważne słowa dla tej galerii fotografii: fotografia, Szczecin, Radisson SAS, Radisson, PŻM, budynek PŻM, Plac Rodła fotografie, Radissona, Placu Rodła, Centrum, Szczecina, fotografii, Centrum, budynku PŻM, zdjęcia Szczecin centrum, Szczecin budynki, Szczecin w Styczniu