day 20, Feb 1, 2011, at sea

Here are Uruguay vids 16-20.

Susie, we are totally impressed at how busy you are! What a winter you are having! We were reading our books on the balcony yesterday, another beautiful day. And sunset is at 10 pm! Very confusing because ... no winter here! Love hearing from you.
Hi Eliza, hope you are enjoying the vids. Our Flip camcorder is so neat!

Katie, we are thinking of taking the QM2 in Oct to come and see you. Are we ever being spoiled on this trip! I keep thinking of a line from an  old movie, "Innkeeper! Wine for my men and water for our horses!"

We had a great conversation last night after dinner in the Churchill Room with some people from Texas who travel 6 months a year and give art courses on cruise ships.
Ashley and Rachel, we have been reading Alexander McCall Smith. Mom has got me hooked on the books in Edinburough about the Philosopher's Club.

We are now 6 hours ahead of you. Capetown on Friday. Right now, our visit to Egypt is a big question mark??? Another cocktail party with the Captain tomorrow. Oh dear, it's so difficult planning all of our social engagements!!
Dave and Rachel, we are feeling guilty that you have to shovel our sidewalk with all of this snow. If it is too much, John, who lives in the house next door(not in the other double, on the other side) told us once he knows someone who would do it. Anyway, many thanks for all of your effort!
Our new generator has been installed at the cottage. A big relief because we were worried about the power going off for several days. Does anyone know what the weather has been like up in Canada?

day 19, Jan 31, 2011 at sea

Hi everybody. Here are Uruguay vids 12-15..

day 19, Jan 31, 2011 at sea

Here are Uruguay vids 8-10.

day 18, Jan 30, 2011 at sea

Day 18, January 30, at sea.

Quiet Sunday today. We went to church and then I went back to bed because I was not feeling well. Mom figured out that I was seasick, perhaps because we are now headed east. Anyway, I am feeling much better now and bought wristbands like mom has.

I think it was Peter who said that you can cheat one day a week on your diet. This is that day. Mom went to the cafeteria while I was sleeping and had two desserts. Then we had tea and little cakes. Luscious. Now we are both reading books by Alexander McCall Smith. They are great.

It is a little cooler today and so mom is wearing brown slacks, a white turtleneck, and a new brown necklace she bought in Uruguay. She looks very chic.

Hopefully, we will get back to normal tomorrow. By the way, try some comments because I think they might be working now.

Talk to you later.

day 18, Jan 30, 2011 at sea

I have had messages that you have had trouble posting comments. I just adjusted the settings and hope that will solve the problem. Email me if it doesn't. Sorry about that. We love to get your comments.

Here are Uruguay vids 4-7. Jess, we will try to post pictures for your slower internet. 

day 17, Jan 29, 2011 at sea

abs and Uruguay 5-7. We think Uruguay wine, which is grown from French vines, still needs a little improvement.
I discovered if you want to comment you have to click on Follower first.
We turned the clocks ahead last night. Now 4 hours ahead of you.
We're heading east so a little more rock and roll on the ship. Mom put on her wrist bands and that helps.

day 17, Jan 29, 2011 at sea

Uruguay vids 1-4.

day 16, Jan 28, 2011 montevideo, Uruguay

This is Montevideo, Uruguay. It is a lovely, safe, clean, beautiful city and country.We had a great tour around the city and then out to lunch and wine tasting and a tour at a winery. 20 vids coming up. This is the harbor where the German Graf Spe and 3 British cruisers fought in Dec, 1939. The Graf Spe Captain scuttled the ship in the harbor. Later, it was dragged further down the river.

Nice cocktail party with the Captain last night for all around the world travelers - 550 of us, about 2,500 travelers in total on the ship.

Internet is slow right now. I will start posting vids tomorrow morning.

day 1 5, Jan 27, 2011 This is for Rachel

This vid is for you, Rachel.

day 13, Jan 25, 2011 last 5 Rio vids

Here are the last 5 Rio vids. I got a good laugh out of vid 14. That is a friend of ours shaking the castanet in vid 15. Those guys got on the train for a couple of stops.

It is actually Jan 27 today. Montevideo, Uruguay tomorrow. Hope you are enjoying the vids. We are enjoying taking them.

day 13, Jan 25, 2011 more Rio vids

More Rio vids. My personal favorite is vid 14 which is on the next blog post.

day 15, Jan 27, 2011 more deck walking vids

here are three more deck walking vids.

day 15, Jan27, 2011 at sea deckwalking vids

Here are some video clips of our deck walking. As you will see, we got the giggles.

day 14, cont'd Mom's vids

The pictures are coming up for Rio and it was a lovely clear day. Sugarloaf is the pointy mountain and the views were spectacular.

Mom has been exercising and went back and weighed her clothes which were sweat-soaked (she dressed in other clothes to do it!) and they weighed 3 1/2 pounds so her weight is still very good.

Mom has also taken some video clips with our flip. She was nervous because I told her to keep it under 20 seconds so I could get it on our blog but they are still good. I will post them now.

Mom just left the room so I don't know what else she wants to say. We are going to walk around the deck shortly and will take a little video there.

Day 14, Jan 26, 2011 more Rio vids

day 13, Jan 25, 2011 Rio

Did I just hear the middle-age bell tolling? Happy Birthday, Cliff! Hope you have a great day - the big 4 0!

We had an absolutely wonderful day in Rio. The scenery is spectacular and exceeded our expectations. The chair lifts, yes there were two, were wonderful because it was such a clear day. The railway trip up Corcavado to the Christ statue was spectacular and went through a rain forest. The statue is 120 feet tall and was a little awkward to see at the top.

For lunch, we went to a restaurant that thought we hadn't eaten for a week! They served haunches of different meats on spears and cut with huge knives individually to each of us, plus all kinds of other food. My stomach now looks like it did eight months ago! (Mom says hers does too). So we had a light dinner in our room.

I took 18 short video clips and I will post some now and some later. Mom took a lot of pictures which we will cull and post tomorrow.

It was a good choice to go to Salvador and Rio. The contrast was surprising - poor vs rich. Rio is hosting the Olympics in 2016 and Salvador is hosting the World Cup in 2014. Salvador is building a new stadium.

They have quite a Mardi Gras Carnival. Everyone gets involved and Rio actually has several stadiums along the parade route. Rather than wear clothes, the women in the parade are painted!! According to our Guide, the parade is a very big deal. Apparently, it actually lasts a lot longer than the four days advertised.

More vids tomorrow.

Two days at sea and then Montevideo, Uruguay.

day 13, Jan 25, 2011 cont'd Rio Harbor

This is Rio Harbor. The cross was lit up when we first arrived. More to follow.

day 13, Jan 25, 2011 Rio

Here are a couple more videos. Coming into Rio in a couple of hours.

day 12, Jan 24, 2011 cont'd

We went to the Variety Show and to Robbie Burns night. The Variety Show was OK but the Robbie Burns event was great. Late dinner afterward. Rio tomorrow.

day 12, Jan24, 2011 at sea

Here is a video from a pocket-sized camcorder called FLIP which we received free from the Mariner Club (American Express). It is very neat and super easy to operate. I have 2 more - will post them later. Super easy to transfer to the computer and can also be shown on the TV.

Our other news is that I won again at Bingo ($41 this time - 3 way tie), but who's complaining?

Arrive at Rio tomorrow and a big day of excursion (Best of Rio). Will take our camera and the FLIP. Tonight is Robbie Burns night with a celebration so we will go to that, plus the Earlier Variety Performance, and then a late dinner.

day 11, jan 23, 2011 salvador, brazil

This is our tour of Salvador, the first capital of Brazil. There was a lot of walking but we enjoyed that because it provided a good feel for the city, although it was very hot. The population is about 3 million people, 80% African. This is because the slave ships came to Salvador first from Africa. The local Indians were not good as slaves because they knew the country and could escape to easily.

Here are some pictures we took. (They have loaded in reverse order). A government building(sorry its sideways, I forgot to fix it) – the government and the churches have the best buildings. The bay, which is the second largest day in the world after Hudson's Bay, and the elevator to get from the upper city to the lower city. A broken cross -which was a protest for tearing down one of the early churches. One of the 365 churches in the city, all Catholic. The blue church is a slave church. Slaves had to be Catholic but were not allowed in the churches. There is a picture to compare with the government building which shows the difference between the rich and the poor. There is a picture of some guys sleeping and lying on the sidewalk who waved to us. It is Sunday and the beach was crowded with people swimming. The lighthouse separates the bay from the ocean. The statues in the lake are African gods (voodoo).

We also saw the British section, which includes $2 million apartments with swimming pools on the balconies. British warships protected the Portuguese court when it escaped from Napoleon to Brazil, in exchange for very favorable trade and other privileges. That's the way the British got there.

The first major economy was for Brazil Wood, the second was sugar cane, and the third was gold. Silver was actually 5 times as valuable as gold at one time because gold was so plentiful.

We came back to the ship and had a lovely nap and have just awakened. We are off to Rio at six o'clock and will arrive there in a couple of days.

day 10, Jan22, 2011 cont'd

We had our World Club Membership upgraded to Platinum because they forgot to include our first two trips on the QE2, so now, among other things, we have free internet.

We heard an interesting but gruesome talk about the soccer team whose plane crashed in the Andes. Then we went to play trivia and our team came second.

Played bingo again but no win.

Looking forward to Salvador tomorrow.

day 10, Jan 22,2011 at sea

I thought my finger was a nice touch too, Sophie.

Another nice day. Another nice dinner last night (formal again). Some pictures of our dinner companions from Scotland and Canada.

We took some video of the gym (very well equipped).

Salvador tomorrow.

Mom just came back from the gym exhausted. She did 5 miles in 65 minutes but her weight is up 2 pounds. No sugar today.

Would love to hear from non-commenters.

Hey girls. There are some nice bracelets for sale. Anybody interested? No doubt they will be available later in the cruise, too.

day 9, Jan 21, 2011

We crossed the equator today. Also, we played bingo and I won $200! This morning we went to a lecture about being a lawyer and an MP. Very good. Exercised and napped as usual. It's a tough life!!

day 8, Jan 20, 2011 Cont'd

Just a comment or two about my outfit this evening. The skirt is part of a three piece suit. When I took it out of the bag the thing that goes off when you leave the store was still at hatched. So I could not wear the whole outfit. However I do have lots of tops to use with the skirt

A character in the Agatha Raisin book I am reading said that if you are fat your wrinkles don't show. This decided me to order the cream of broccoli and Stilton with scallions for my soup and the Bailey's and dark chocolate tart with yummy sauce for dessert.

day 8, jan 20, 2011 our itinerary

Pete asked for our itinerary so here it is.
January 23 Salvador
January 25 Rio
January 28 Montevideo
February 4 Capetown
February 5 Capetown
February 7 Durban
February 11 Mauritius
February 17 Freemantle Australia
February 20 Australia
February 22 Australia
February 23 Australia
February 26 New Zealand
February 28 New Zealand
March 7 Guam
March 10 Japan
March 12 Japan
March 16 Shanghai
March 18 Hong Kong
March 19 Hong Kong
March 21 Vietnam
March 23 Bangkok
March 25 Singapore
March 27 Phuket
March 30 India
April 3 Dubai
April 8 Egypt
April 9 Egypt
April 13 Rome
April 14 Monte Carlo
April 15 Barcelona

day 8, Jan 20, 2011, at sea

Today is Thursday. Nice and warm and a clear blue sky.

We went to an interesting lecture this morning about the settlement of Brazil. Did you know that the entire Portuguese Court of 15,000 went to Brazil to escape Napoleon? Also, the reason some countries speak Spanish and Brazil speaks Portuguese is that The Pope drew a line through Brazil to divide it up.

Here are some pictures we took around the ship.

Later this afternoon, we are going to another planetarium presentation after the trivia quiz.

I put the video of our room again for Dave. By the way, the photo of me waving is at the very top of the ship. The photo of Mom and others is at the Terrace Pool.

day 7 Jan 19, 2011

Dinner was more casual on Tuesday because we had been in Barbados Port. We will be at sea until Sunday when we arrive at Salvador, Brazil.

On Wednesday, we went to a very interesting lecture by a British lawyer and MP who talked about his famous cases and about being an MP. Then we went to a Planetarium presentation which was excellent.

By the way, Pete, I just finished reading the Overton Window by Glenn Beck. I think you would enjoy it.

Right now, it is Thursday morning and the sun has just come up. Looks like it will be a beautiful day.

day 6 Jan 18, 2011, Bridgetown, Barbados

Today is Tuesday, January 18 and after exercising and a nice breakfast we got off the ship in Bridgetown Barbados. We did a little shopping and then got back on the ship for lunch. Since Margot's weight was good, our lunch included… wait for it… a dark chocolate Magnum bar. Remember how we devoured them in Cornwall?

Then we had a nice nap and now we're reading our books. Actually it started raining about an hour ago.

days 5&6 cont'd

Here are the two photos from Mon night.

days 5&6 Jan 17 & 18, 2011

These are pictures from Sunday and Monday nights which were formal. On Monday night, we went to two cocktail parties (not used to being so social). We didn't shake hands with the captain because it was too much of a lineup. We finally met the couple on our left at dinner. They are very nice and are from Scotland. Mom tried to have a non-sugar day yesterday which is hard because the food is so tempting. We are still managing to exercise and barely maintaining our weight.

Today we are in the Barbados and will go exploring on our own. We'll check in later.

day4 Jan 16, 2011

Hi everybody this is mom talking its Sunday and I am finally out of quarantines. It was a strange experience to be a pariah. The first day I didn't really mind as I just wanted to sleep and it was nice to be waited on hand and foot. I didn't realize that no one was allowed in our room and dad had to meet people at the door to take trays and things. The second day I began to feel like I was in a very very nice prison. Today I felt perfectly well and we went to the gym early I don't think I have gained any weight yet but that is probably the result of my illness this morning we went to a talk on Barbados before going to church most of the people at church were Brits the first night, before I took ill we went to dinner and the people on one side were Canadian and we chatted with them quite a bit the people on the other side arrived later so we didn't really get to talk to them but realized they are British. Tonight is formal night and I am looking forward to getting dressed up and getting to know our fellow diners. I hope you are all well and no one else has come down with this bug. Keep e-mailing us we love to hear from you. Sorry my punctuation is terrible. I will try to do better next time. Hope you can read it anyway. Love mom

day 3, Jan 15, 2011

It's a beautiful day today and we can now see Fort Lauderdale. Hope you enjoy this video. It only took me five tries to make it. Everything was good on the fourth try except I forgot to take off the lens cap.

Anyway, Mom is feeling much better today. She didn't have much appetite last night so I had to eat my shrimp tempura appetizer and lobster thermidor all by myself (heh! heh!). Yesterday, we watched an interesting lecture on TV about pirates, pillaging, and plunder. Two men will come again today to sanitize our room in the morning and in the evening. By five o'clock Sunday morning, Mom will be able to leave the room.

By the way, the couple sitting next to us in the Queen's Grill is from Toronto. The couple on the other side is English but we haven't had a chance to talk to them yet.

Sorry, it is taking too long to upload the video. I will save it on my computer. Here is a photo instead.

day 2 - Jan 14, 2011

Wouldn't you know it, mom picked up a stomach bug and is confined to her room until Sunday morning. It is contagious for 48 hours after the last episode. Two men come in and sanitize the room twice a day.

So here we are, stuck in our beautiful room, looking at the ocean, occasionally sitting on our balcony in the sunshine, reading and watching TV, and eating wonderful food. Oh well, it's a tough job but somebody has to do it!

Our trip is slightly slower because one of the engines needs repair. Everything should be okay by Capetown.

I actually exercised this morning, 40 min. on the treadmill and some weightlifting. We'll see if I can keep it up. Mom is going to try a little exercise in the room tomorrow.

Hi Everyone,
We are in our hotel in NYC. Susie drove with us in the truck (many thanks, Susie) and we avoided the snow. Having dinner with Katie tonight. Mom's idea to arrange for a van to take us to the ship. Excellent!!! We have 8 suitcases and 2 carryons - basically everything we own.

This is the blog for our World Cruise.