The trip down to Jacksonville, FL, went really well. I picked up a fruit and cheese box at Toronto-Pearson, asked to pre-board, the agent told me to sit in 6A instead of 5A because there was no one in 6B, so I had the section to myself all the way to Detroit and could munch away as the clock tilted toward noon. It was a small connector plane with one stewardess and no food service. Glad I bought my lunch first.
However, at the Detroit airport I asked the gate agents for directions to my connecting gate as I had less than an hour to get there. They were very helpful with the long walking directions but neglected to mention that there was an express tram running around the mezzanine that would have saved me a 20 minute sprint in killer heat. I even said, "Wow, that is a long way. I better put my knee braces on." Which I did, right in front of them. I realized I could have taken the tram when I was too close to the second gate to bother.
But JAX is a bright cheerful airport, full of helpful people, and even a piano man in the main foyer that I tipped on my way by. What a welcome! Also I got to the hotel by free shuttle and in short order. It is on a service road with not much of anything around. It is hot outside but there is a stiff dry breeze blowing so it is far more comfortable here than at home right now. And, wonders of wonders, both the AC & good wifi are working in my room. The AC is working a little too well actually, so as I wrote this I was sitting outside. And the wifi worked out there too. Seems like a good omen.
The shuttle will get me to the airport in minutes so I could have slept until 8 this morning. But I am up earlier, taking my time to repack for the overnight flight today to Frankfort and on to France. I will wear my comfy jeans and take a jacket. Well, there is a little coffee bar here so I am going to get ready and have a bit of breakfast before I go to the airport to meet the other 25 women in the group. Wahoo!
I will touch base every day or so, depending on the wifi situation. And I will finish the Australia blogs - so that may be a bit confusing. I was in Australia late May to early June. I will be in France late June to early July. Also, sadly, since Blogspot will now only load photos via Picassa and Picassa refuses to browse photos on my iPad photo library, I cannot post photos with these bogs unless I am on a real computer.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Long Weekend in Melbourne Part 2
On Sunday, we drove out to JL & E's home on the Mornington peninsula, on the outskirts of Melbourne. We had not seen E since they were living in Whistler, BC, so it was wonderful to be with her, JL, and their boys again. Even more fun was meeting the latest addition, a 15 month old elf boy with strawberry blonde hair and a wicked smile.
After giving the boys their books (In Flanders Fields for the oldest, Roche Carrier's The Hockey Sweater, and Robert Munsch books for the other two) I showed them all pictures of their cousins and our grandchildren on my iPad. We caught up on family, homes, jobs and so on. And enjoyed watching the boys with their grandparents. Then we piled into two cars and went to Sorrento.
From what I could understand, Sorrento is further up the Mornington peninsula out toward the coast. As we came into the town along the waterfront, we saw small colorful buildings side by side along the beach. These windowless structures are privately owned and are used to store umbrellas, buckets and whatever might be needed for a day at the seaside. At first I thought that these were the beach homes that we had come to see. But that was far from correct.
We drove through town and out to a park, then continued on foot - three boys, one toddler in a stroller, parents, grandparents, and us - the aunt and uncle - until we came to a dirt road that headed toward the water. At the end was a path that led along the cliff on the public allowance at the edge of lands overlooking the coves and the jetties below. These properties are substantial, to say the least, with beautiful homes and gardens, some with matching boathouses on the docks. It was a challenging walk, up and down and uneven, but worth every step. At the end of it, we came to a path that went down to a sheltered beach where we found seashells and more of the beach huts.
The boys explored every inch, built sand castles, and helped look for shells. Even though we were wearing a few layers against the cool air, the wee one was stripped down and had a bit of a splash at the edge of the water until he did a face plant into the sand. That was the signal that it was time to go back to the cars and find a restaurant. We ate at place with a large dining room, a bar, a generous seniors menu, and a playroom for the kids. It was amazing how easy going the meal was until the little guy took off at full speed around the dining room with me in pursuit. I finally corralled him in the playroom and delivered him back to his Mom and Dad. We said goodnight, goodbye, thanks for the great day, and tired from the long walk and all the fresh air, L, B, J and I headed back to our hotel.
After giving the boys their books (In Flanders Fields for the oldest, Roche Carrier's The Hockey Sweater, and Robert Munsch books for the other two) I showed them all pictures of their cousins and our grandchildren on my iPad. We caught up on family, homes, jobs and so on. And enjoyed watching the boys with their grandparents. Then we piled into two cars and went to Sorrento.
From what I could understand, Sorrento is further up the Mornington peninsula out toward the coast. As we came into the town along the waterfront, we saw small colorful buildings side by side along the beach. These windowless structures are privately owned and are used to store umbrellas, buckets and whatever might be needed for a day at the seaside. At first I thought that these were the beach homes that we had come to see. But that was far from correct.
We drove through town and out to a park, then continued on foot - three boys, one toddler in a stroller, parents, grandparents, and us - the aunt and uncle - until we came to a dirt road that headed toward the water. At the end was a path that led along the cliff on the public allowance at the edge of lands overlooking the coves and the jetties below. These properties are substantial, to say the least, with beautiful homes and gardens, some with matching boathouses on the docks. It was a challenging walk, up and down and uneven, but worth every step. At the end of it, we came to a path that went down to a sheltered beach where we found seashells and more of the beach huts.
The boys explored every inch, built sand castles, and helped look for shells. Even though we were wearing a few layers against the cool air, the wee one was stripped down and had a bit of a splash at the edge of the water until he did a face plant into the sand. That was the signal that it was time to go back to the cars and find a restaurant. We ate at place with a large dining room, a bar, a generous seniors menu, and a playroom for the kids. It was amazing how easy going the meal was until the little guy took off at full speed around the dining room with me in pursuit. I finally corralled him in the playroom and delivered him back to his Mom and Dad. We said goodnight, goodbye, thanks for the great day, and tired from the long walk and all the fresh air, L, B, J and I headed back to our hotel.
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Long Weekend in Melbourne - Part I
We were so excited to be able to get to Melbourne and visit with our niece BJ and her family, our nephew JL and his family. We drove down on Thursday and stayed through until Tuesday, maintaining the leisurely pace of this trip to see Australian family. We shared a family room with L & B at a little hotel not far from BJ & P's. The only drawbacks were remembering whose towel was whose and figuring out which one of us was snoring at any given time of the night. Turns out that I do my fair share. Little huffs of exhalations out the corners of my mouth. Another sign of age, I guess. Luckily I sleep so soundly that other people snoring doesn't bother me much.
We drove down to Melbourne from Canberra, a good drive if slightly rushed. We left at 8 am and made only brief stops for coffee or a bit of lunch (L said we took 40 minutes at lunch rather than his planned 20 minutes.) But the trip is a long one and we arrived just as BJ was pulling away in a rush to pick up her girls after school. L & B had hoped to meet them there. Instead we went to the hotel and checked in. By the time we got back, we were greeted with great enthusiasm by our little grand-nieces, two cutie pies. I gave them the books we brought for them, a beautifully illustrated In Flanders Fields for the 8 year-old, and Paperbag Princess for the 5 year-old. After the long drive, we had dinner with the family but made it an early night. The first two days alternated between meals and visits with our niece's family and outings in the city.
On Friday morning, B and I set out in the pouring rain to her favourite swimmers (swim suits) shop. Victory! This place was fantastic. The suits were plentiful and sized by dress size and bra size together. It was hilarious trying them on in adjoining change rooms. I am short-waisted, B long. She would ask, "Do you have a longer version?" and I would say, "This is not short enough." Eventually, she got a cute new suit that was just long enough. My sales woman told me that I needed to try the next size down with the same bra size and abracadabra - I had two new suits that fit better than any I have had for years.
We picked up BJ from her yoga class and met the guys for lunch at a pizza place that served delicious cappuccinos (but less than desirable Portuguese custard tarts - a bit old, I think). Once the girls were home from school, certificates for good school citizenship in hand, we sat down to take out fish and chips - flake, rather than haddock, and yummy. I showed the girls photos of their Canadian cousins on my iPad. They then claimed it to play cousin S's favourite game, Cut the Rope. After they went off to bed, we sat around the table and had a lively visit long into the evening. The rain continued on Saturday, off and on, but it made for a cozy day with BJ et al. I played games with the girls and their grandfather joined in for several screaming rounds of Hungry Hippo. Really too funny.
The weather cleared when we set off to meet our nephew JL late that afternoon. Along the freeway was the most incredible series of public art pieces. Those who build our highways could learn a lot here - sound barriers were etched glass or sky-high brilliantly coloured baffles or triangulated rusted steel ruffles. There were off-centre towering polished steel arches in a couple of places, within sight of one another, which are lit from below with bright blue light. And many other pieces. Anyway, I loved it.
The girls, their dad and grandfather came with us and we met JL and his three oldest boys at the stadium to see our first Aussie football "footy" game. It was pouring rain again but the roof was closed so we were warm enough and dry. JL charmed the ticket vendor into really good seats for a great price. I spent most of the game next to my oldest grand-nephew, nine year-old S, who filled me in on the rules when necessary. His team was the St.Kilda Saints. The first quarter was a little worrisome as the other team led by 30. But the Saints took the lead and in the end won hands down. We are not sports fans but it was fun seeing the game with a bunch of little kids. Furthermore, the boys were delighted to come to their cousins' for BJ's delicious homemade spaghetti dinner, which they ate while watching Home Alone 3. The adults ate and talked until it was time for JL to load his sleepy boys into the car and head for home, about an hour away across Melbourne.
We drove down to Melbourne from Canberra, a good drive if slightly rushed. We left at 8 am and made only brief stops for coffee or a bit of lunch (L said we took 40 minutes at lunch rather than his planned 20 minutes.) But the trip is a long one and we arrived just as BJ was pulling away in a rush to pick up her girls after school. L & B had hoped to meet them there. Instead we went to the hotel and checked in. By the time we got back, we were greeted with great enthusiasm by our little grand-nieces, two cutie pies. I gave them the books we brought for them, a beautifully illustrated In Flanders Fields for the 8 year-old, and Paperbag Princess for the 5 year-old. After the long drive, we had dinner with the family but made it an early night. The first two days alternated between meals and visits with our niece's family and outings in the city.
On Friday morning, B and I set out in the pouring rain to her favourite swimmers (swim suits) shop. Victory! This place was fantastic. The suits were plentiful and sized by dress size and bra size together. It was hilarious trying them on in adjoining change rooms. I am short-waisted, B long. She would ask, "Do you have a longer version?" and I would say, "This is not short enough." Eventually, she got a cute new suit that was just long enough. My sales woman told me that I needed to try the next size down with the same bra size and abracadabra - I had two new suits that fit better than any I have had for years.
We picked up BJ from her yoga class and met the guys for lunch at a pizza place that served delicious cappuccinos (but less than desirable Portuguese custard tarts - a bit old, I think). Once the girls were home from school, certificates for good school citizenship in hand, we sat down to take out fish and chips - flake, rather than haddock, and yummy. I showed the girls photos of their Canadian cousins on my iPad. They then claimed it to play cousin S's favourite game, Cut the Rope. After they went off to bed, we sat around the table and had a lively visit long into the evening. The rain continued on Saturday, off and on, but it made for a cozy day with BJ et al. I played games with the girls and their grandfather joined in for several screaming rounds of Hungry Hippo. Really too funny.
The weather cleared when we set off to meet our nephew JL late that afternoon. Along the freeway was the most incredible series of public art pieces. Those who build our highways could learn a lot here - sound barriers were etched glass or sky-high brilliantly coloured baffles or triangulated rusted steel ruffles. There were off-centre towering polished steel arches in a couple of places, within sight of one another, which are lit from below with bright blue light. And many other pieces. Anyway, I loved it.
The girls, their dad and grandfather came with us and we met JL and his three oldest boys at the stadium to see our first Aussie football "footy" game. It was pouring rain again but the roof was closed so we were warm enough and dry. JL charmed the ticket vendor into really good seats for a great price. I spent most of the game next to my oldest grand-nephew, nine year-old S, who filled me in on the rules when necessary. His team was the St.Kilda Saints. The first quarter was a little worrisome as the other team led by 30. But the Saints took the lead and in the end won hands down. We are not sports fans but it was fun seeing the game with a bunch of little kids. Furthermore, the boys were delighted to come to their cousins' for BJ's delicious homemade spaghetti dinner, which they ate while watching Home Alone 3. The adults ate and talked until it was time for JL to load his sleepy boys into the car and head for home, about an hour away across Melbourne.
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