First Cruise - Allure of the Seas 1

In May we undertook our first ever cruise and by lucky chance we booked on the Allure of the Seas. The latest and biggest ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet. What an amazing ship, holds up to 6,000 passengers and 3,000 crew and has 17 decks.

It is designed so that even the passengers with an inside cabin get a balcony.

Our Cabin was a split level with the bedroom ,closets and full bathroom upstairs,

and a lounge, desk and another full bathroom downstairs.

The lounge opened onto a large balcony complete with deck chairs and cushions.

Inside offered many dining locations,

beautiful decor,

a full sized casino, plus a myriad of other attractions.

While the inside / outside offered boardwalks with living trees and shrubs,

Relaxing sidewalk cafes,

Central Park,

and fine dining at a number of upmarket restaurants.

In the enclosed inside they hold street parades and encourage shopping at top tier shops like Coach and Guess, as well as a number of self pampering opportunities at an elaborately equipped spa and gym.

On the upper foredeck there is an adult only solarium,

while the ship boasts 5 large themed swimming pools.

You can even ride the wave machine or body-board.

So now you know a little about the ship and in the next post we will show some of the destinations we visited over the 7 days.

Cheers Bev and Ross

Friends Visit April / May 2013

Well, April and May provided us with the opportunity to spend some fun times with dear friends and where better to have an evening out than at the River Walk where music is provided by a Mariachi band. 

The occassion was dinner with Tom, Yoli and Mark.  We have been friends since 1993 when Tom and Beverley were both at Fort Sam Houston undertaking their Critical Care Course.  Yoli had completed her course the year before.  We had a great evening chatting about our lives and hopes for the future.

Shortly after their brief visit our Canadian friends arrived.   It was fun being able to show off the different areas of San Antonio and surrounding areas.  Here we are at the Gristmill at Gruene, the home of the oldest dance hall in Texas and the film set for the film Michael with John Travolta.  Barb, Blaire, Cathy and Doug enjoyed the opportunity to sample some Texas fare. 

On this day there was a band and dancing in the hall and our Canadian friends enjoyed a spin around the room.

Here we are having lunch with the USS Lexington in the background at Corpus Christi.

No visit is complete unless Mary Alice and Albert join us.  On this day some of Mary Alice's friends popped in as well.

Corpus Christi also houses the Texas State Aquarium complete with Dolphins who like to show off.

The Beaver Dam Gang

Shortly after our friends returned to Canada we had Australian friends arrive.  Here Mary, Ross, Sally and Fred pose for the snap.  Mary and Fred live in New South Wales and Sally lives in Tasmania.  We had another great time with friends.

We were delighted this week to have dinner Mike and Catherine who are over in the USA to attend 3 weddings.  The last time we saw Catherine she was much younger and is the daughter of an old Army buddy.  Mike and Catherine will be getting married next year and we wish them a long and happy life.  It was so nice that made time to come and see us.

Our final vistors were Jennifer and Gary from Yass who stayed with us 10 months ago.  Like Trish and Murray they also have a motorhome.  This trip they will be going to Alaska.  This evening Dennis and our friend Monica joined us for dinner.

Their visit coincided with the golf which saw the Green Blazer go to Adam Scott. Gary enjoyed the greenside view of a 70 inch HDTV.

We would like to thank our friends for coming to visit as you  make our lives so much richer.
Best wishes,

Beverley and Ross

Visit to Yucatan Pt.4

On one of the last days of our visit, Gavan was good enough to take us to the magnificent Mayan ruins at Uxmal. It is a large site covering many acres.

The Mexican government in 2010 instituted this signage at historic sites all over the country. All you do is log into the official Federal page then put in the number of the site (2508) and you are taken to a full description of the history of the site.

The ruins are nothing less than spectacular.

This is the stadium where two teams played a game a bit like soccer using a heavy leather ball with the aim of getting the ball through the stone ring using only legs and hips (I think).

Adrian and Cameron enjoying the day.

While the site was not particularly wheelchair friendly, Gavan managed to get Mary Alice around most of it.

On the second last night of our visit Lorena and Gavan hosted a great dinner for us and invited a number of his local friends along. A good time was has by all.

Our very last night was spent in Valadolid on our way back to Cancun and this is the same church shown in Yucatan Pt.1 but obviously at night. A truly delightful little town.

Our flight back to San Antonio was uneventful and now we are all safely home.

We cannot thank Lorena and Gavan enough for opening up their home to us and making us feel so welcome, not to mention all travelling around the state, courtesy of Gav.

It was a fantastic week.

Cheers Bev and Ross

Visit to Yucatan Pt.3

On our 3rd day of the visit Gavan took us to spend some time in Merida. Merida is the state capital of Yucatan and located about 35km inland south of Progreso. It has a population of around 1 million people and like many of the older Mexican cities has a magnificent square in the centre of the city.

In Merida the square is surrounded by old Government buildings and the Cathedral which dates back to 1598.

After playing tourist we had lunch in one of the many restaurants surrounding the square and were seated by this delightful young lady in traditional dress.

Following lunch we paid a visit the adjacent ice cream parlour where we all (not just the kids) sampled the wares. Great ice cream.

It was a great day out and an opportunity to see a quite historic and beautiful city.

Next we are off to Uxmal and the pyramids.

Cheers Bev and Ross

Visit to Yucatan Pt. 2

Gavan and Lorena's daughter Alexandra attends traditional dance classes in a hall near their house and the students were generous enough to allow us to take photos during the class although I think I distracted her when I took this.

The climate in the area is excellent for growing many varieties of vegetables and flowers and these are just a few of Gavan's hibiscus with fruit trees in the background. All are grown in pots as the natural soil is too sandy to support most plants.

The beachfront home lends itself to relaxing and many a restful hour was spent doing exactly that.

Father and elder son (Albert and Adrian) ventured regularly into the surf,

While younger son (Cameron) was content with the adjacent pool.

In the next session we will cover our visit to the Yucatan's capital, Merida.

Cheers Ross and Bev