Life (or something like it) at sea...

Life aboard a cruise ship is pretty unreal.  But, believe me, it’s easy to take a step back from reality now and then and to just go with it.

On our recent trip, we sailed the Celebrity Constellation on a 15 day transatlantic cruise that took us from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Amsterdam, Netherlands.  We picked this particular trip due to the interesting itinerary.

The cruise started with six days at sea.  That is a luxury that I wish everybody could experience.  I love it because it gives me more or less unlimited time to read…and what could be better than that?!  Well, maybe that afternoon nap.

Part of the unreality of a cruise is the orderliness of it.  It’s such a change from my messy and mildly chaotic ordinary existence.  On a cruise ship, no matter where you go, someone follows behind to pick up after you.  You leave your cabin in the morning a mess and come back an hour later to a perfectly ordered room.  Drooping flowers are freshened.  Chairs are constantly straightened.  Towels are restocked.  Tables cleared.  Floors swept.  Drinks served.  Like I said…totally unreal.  It’s hard not to enjoy those particular perks of cruising!  Many thanks to the crew of the Constellation who took care of us.

Here are some photos of our life at sea…

Pelligrino...Yum!

Drink option...up in the air.

They even have a Chihuly!

Home again, home again, jiggety, jig...

Home!  And it is good to be back.  

Three weeks ago today, we boarded the ship Celebrity Constellation with our good friends Dona and Bob and cruised to Punta Delgada (Azores) and Lisbon, Portugal, Cherbourg and LaHavre, France, Dover, England and Amsterdam.  After two days in Amsterdam, Greg and I left our friends and took the train for three nights in Paris.  We had a great time but it is good to be back.

After a couple of false starts, I now have a fully working computer thanks to my son, Evan.  So I will slowly be working my way through the photos I took on our trip.  Here are just a few for now.

Azores Vista

Rooftops of Lisbon

At the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

The Alabaster Coast....Etretat

Lighthouse, Dover, England

I amsterdam...

Taking the bitter with the sweet...

Feliz Cinco de Mayo a todos! 

“So do you want to the good news or the bad news?”  Don’t you hate hearing those words?  The last time someone actually said that to me, I was finding out that my left knee is pretty much shot and that eventually it will need to be replaced.  That was the bad news.  The good news was that Dr. Oh knew what was wrong with my knee.  Small comfort that.

But that’s not what I am about today.  The bad news for me yesterday was that my computer kept shutting down for no good reason.  Panic struck.  But the good news is that I have a husband and son who know a bit about these things.  Apparently, my computer was actually having a meltdown.  Something is fused in there and needs to be replaced.  More good news is that I shouldn’t loose anything.  Believe me, for one who is addicted to digital photography like me, that is REALLY good news.  (Note to self:  back up your bleeping files more often!)

But that meant that anything I had in mind for my blog is sitting in our dining room waiting for a replacement part.  And I am working on an old laptop that my husband graciously hooked up to my keyboard and monitor so I wouldn’t be completely out of touch.

That was just one of about a thousand things going through my brain this morning when I was trying my hardest to get back to sleep at 4:30.  I finally gave up and once the sun came up, I went out with my camera and took replacement shots.  I will post some of those today.

I also wanted to mention that we are off on an adventure of sorts tomorrow and I am going to be out of touch for a while.  We are heading to Europe.  The good news is that I think we will have a great time.  The bad news is that I will miss checking on the blogs I follow and posting on mine.  Oh, well…with life you have to take the sweet with the bitter.

Fresh Greens...Hosta Rising