StLouisCruisers

Annie, if you go to Messina you will enjoy it. From there you can also get tours of Taormina and Mt. Etna. Here are photos from our Messina trips as posted on April 4, 2021 and June 5, 2022. Messina is a port that seemed to be on a quite a few of our cruises. We were there on Royal Princess in 2013, Emerald Princess in 2016 and 2019, and Westerdam in 2017. The Straight of Messina is a narrow straight between eastern Sicily and the western coast of southern Italy. At the city of Messina the straight is only 3 miles across. As we approached Messina in 2017 on Westerdam we passed the Stromboli volcano. It looked quite beautiful and peaceful that day. One of my favorite things to see at Messina is the Noon time performance at the beautiful automated astronomical clock tower at the Messina Cathedral. Tourists gather there in advance to get the best position for the many photos they take. The clock features decorative dials indicating the signs of the zodiac and the annual calendar with golden mechanical figures which move. The noisiest time is when the lion figure roars and the rooster figure crows. Always a big hit! But if your ship arrives at 1 pm you are out of luck, and that has happened to us once. We arrived right at noon and you could barely hear the lion and rooster from the upper decks of the ship. The Cathedral is a couple blocks away from the pier so an easy walk. People waiting to see the noon performance. Here is the Cathedral And just to the left is the famous bell tower Here is the lion at the top and the rooster below it. The figures all move including the lion and rooster, the angels, etc. Other lovely views and buildings around the city to look at. The Court of Messina with a horse and wagon statue on top. The beautiful Parrochia Santa Caterina church which translates to Church of St. Catherine. The Church of the Annunciation of the Catalans which was rebuilt from a Mosque. I hope you can all visit Messina in the future. I have another cruise where we visited Mt. Etna and Taormina on a tour from Messina.

Terry, you and your DH deserve some time on the Cape next month. Let the other family members handle things for a while so you two can get some relaxation time with DS and family. Maureen, again so sorry about all this hassle caused by a stupid hacker. You seem to be handling the stress well though so props to you. Joy, I'm glad your toe seems to be doing better. Having a pedicure after hurting it must prove it is doing well. Thanks also for that darling photo of your little nephew. We do love our baby pictures here! Thanks for everyone's concern about my upset tummy but I'm feeling fine now. It's just miserable while it's happening. Thanks to all for the nice photos of Catania (and Taormina). An amazing and interesting place to visit and I'm grateful I had the opportunity to do that.

On Dec. 3, 2018 Pacific Princess arrived in Catania on the island of Sicily. The view from breakfast was Mt. Etna. It was a nice sunny day so we prepared to walk through the town since this was our first visit there. We saw many large ornate buildings and it began to get confusing. For instance, this one. And this one Did you notice this elephant out front? This cathedral was pretty and had a nice interior. How about this confessional? Across from the Cathedral If you walk through this arched opening you will find the farmer's market. Yikes! Another large ornate building? Enough of that. On our way back to the ship we found this archeological site of an ancient theater. Back to the ship to relax. Glad I saw this port because it's not on many itineraries.

Good morning friends! It's a nice morning here with 66F and sunny skies. High will be 87 though so I think I'll stay inside. There is a chance of showers late afternoon or early evening. I am feeling under the weather today with a tummy ache which always slows me down. Hoping for improvement as the day goes on. Thank you Rich @richwmn for our Daily and Fleet Report. I like chocolate ice cream, but then I like most flavors. VCR day may find a few of us lacking. I think all our old VCRs are gone now. I appreciate tailors as they have a skill many of us could never attain. I like the funny quote by Tommy Cooper. The feta shrimp tacos sound like a pass to me. The cocktail sounds intriguing and I'm sure the Pinot Noir is nice but I don't like red wine. The day in history is important. I hear the pope, by the way, is headed to the hospital for surgery. Prayers for him! 🙏 While I'm at it more prayers for all our members in need of them. Hopeful that things improve for all of you. A salute to the Celebration list people. Enjoy your cruises everyone!🚢🥂 Thank you Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope, Ann @cat shepard, and Vanessa @JazzyV for your reports. Today's port is Catania, Italy, located in Sicily. I can't find any evidence of us having that port before so no links today. I told myself I've been to Catania before but didn't have it on any lists so will have to update my lists obviously. I found it via Shutterfly photo book as a stop on our Pacific Princess Nov.-Dec. 2018 cruise. I guess I'm going picture hunting next! By the way, yesterday Bubba's son Cody came by finally to wash our house and deck. He used an algae killer then a low pressure wash. The cement siding looks nice now. The deck is finally clean, too. I either need to stain the deck again or replace certain components with composite materials. We also need to paint the garage door which fades quickly due to facing due South and a darker color. All that is going on our To Do list. Hoping to see photos of Debbie's house as the painters get further along. Okay, off to find photos of Catania now. Hoping all of you have an excellent day!

Good morning friends! It is 64 with sunny skies and 88 predicted later today. Thanks to Rich @richwmn for our D-Day Daily and Fleet Report. A very important day to never forget. We can learn a lot from history - that's why we shouldn't cancel what has gone on in the past. Invaluable! I like the Higher Education Day and a salute to those who continue educating themselves during their lifetime. Gardening certainly is exercise! I've done plenty of that in the past. Yo-yos were big when I was growing up but these days you don't see kids playing with them. Just staring at their phones! The quote is a good one. If anyone wants to prepare steak fajitas for me in their air fryer, I'm game. The drink sounds interesting, and I don't know what to think of the wine. Thanks to Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope, and Ann @cat shepard for their reports. To Vanessa @JazzyV thank you so much for keeping us up to date on the Care and Celebration lists. Prayers for those in need of them.🙏 Three cheers for the Celebration list folks. Enjoy happy birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and cruises!🎂🎓🥂🚢 Thanks Vanessa for mentioning Ren, and his teammates recovering from that collision. They can use the prayers they receive. The port of the day is Tsuruga, Japan and we had that port here on Dec. 22, 2021 and Feb. 3, 2022 so it was quite a while ago. The links are below so feel free to post your photos from back then. I have not been there before, therefore have no photos to post today. Just want to note neighbors Brenda and Paul departed yesterday with one of their daughters for who knows what state. Last time (April 30) they made it only to Tennessee. They have a new route and Brenda swears she will text me occasionally to let me know where they are and what they've been up to. I pray for safe travel for them and will see them at the end of summer. Oh yes, I did some treadmill work this morning and it is working. Doesn't keep a tinkerer from tinkering though because I can see that look in DH's eyes. He will no doubt try to make adjustments. 🔧😆

Oh my gosh! I love it. She is all grown up! What a sweet little face.🥰

Maureen, I'm sorry to hear about the hacking of your account, something we should all be worried about. I hope the financial planner can help you sort through this. Best of luck with it. Actually I was thinking of your discussions about your DH's eye pressure over the past few months. It brings to mind something DS's research created. He and a partner or two developed something called the world's smallest computer. It's a chip, very tiny, that uses low power and can be used to monitor things like pressure, in this case intraocular pressure monitoring. The batteries last a very, very long time. The device is only 1 cubic millimeter and the microprocessor can be inserted into the eye to measure the progress of glaucoma. It could be used in concrete in a bridge, for instance, to watch for pressure cracks and prevent disasters. There are lots of uses for them. I found an old article online that talks about it and shows a photo of the size of the chip. Move down to the side panel under the picture of the penny with the chip sitting on it. So tiny! https://www.reviewofoptometry.com/article/iop-goes-bump-in-the-night Of course, I'm not an eye doctor and have no idea if this is something that would work for your DH's eye condition but I'm happy it's helping some people with health problems. I thought you both would like to hear about it though. Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser I agree that the injury sounds pretty bad. I know I wouldn't want to be playing soccer in two weeks with that injury. But the report from the surgeon yesterday was he will be okay. 🤷‍♀️

Oh Joy, what a difficult start to your day! I do hope the toe isn't broken, and doesn't hurt much. You should get it looked at. You need to have a little talk with Juliet about taking off like that! 🤔

Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser I'm glad the Jaguars are going to the tournament too but yesterday was pretty rough. First of all they were short a few defenders. One kid isn't very reliable and didn't show up in Chicago without notifying anyone. Then near the end of the game two Jags, Colton and Jackson had a freak accident running into each other with Jackson's mouth making contact with Colton's head. Jackson was badly injured. Three of his front teeth were pushed out of place awkwardly, and Colton had a laceration to his head and half of one of Jackson's teeth imbedded there. One of the Jag's Dads is a doctor and he ran over to assist. Both boys ended up in the ER. Colton had to get a stitch to the head. They did surgery on Jackson and he has to see someone today about possible root canals. Horrific! Thank goodness Ren escaped injury. He was one of the scorers. I just hope everyone will be ready for that tournament and have some time to recuperate. I need to put those boys on my prayer list!

I forgot to mention last night I had a wildlife sighting right here in my own front yard. I had just armed the security system for the night and went to look out the sidelight window next to the front door. I saw what appeared to be a dark spot on one of the columns so turned on the porch light to identify it. A moth, but seconds after I turned on the light a red fox went slinking out of the shrubs and hurried off down my front walk to the driveway where it disappeared into the darkness. I wonder what he doing out there up next to my house, and secondly I hope any neighborhood cats and dogs were inside safe and sound.

Good morning friends! It was 60 and clear so we went outside for a walk. Tomorrow will be treadmill test day. We will have mostly sunny skies and 84 for a high. Thank you Rich @richwmn for the Daily and Fleet Report. It would be a good day for a hot air balloon ride with calm winds out there. I like frozen yogurt but not as much as ice cream and gelato. DD worked in 2 frozen yogurt shops as a teen. And World Environment Day is honored by most. On our walks I notice things in the neighborhood that I wish could be improved but some people don't seem to care about their environment. Just a minor part of World Environment Day but we have to start someplace! I like the Jodi Picoult quote. No thanks to the salmon skewers, the drink sounds interesting, and I have no idea what the wine is. Thanks today to Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope, and Ann @cat shepard for their reports on the food and beverages. The Day in History is an important one and helped to form Europe after WWII. Prayers for all on the Care list and others in need. Wouldn't it be nice to have no one on our Care list? 🙏 Cheers to everyone celebrating today! I hope that list is the longer one! Happy cruising to everyone here enjoying that pastime. Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for today's lists. I heard from DS that Ren's Jaguars tied yesterday with Chicago Sockers but are still headed to the Dallas tournament in two weeks due to their record this season. Then I believe that is all until August when Ren and his Mom move to Dallas for him to attend the FC Dallas soccer youth training school. Big changes in that family with big brother off to UCLA in September. And DS is taking over the department as Interim Chair for a year while they find someone to head the department. He doesn't want the job permanently. After the year as Interim Chair he wants to take a year's sabbatical. What a crazy year it will be for all of them!🤪 Port of the Day is Nassau, Bahamas which we had before on October 14, 2021 and August 20, 2022. Links for both are listed below and my photos posted back then. Please feel free to share your time spent in Nassau with us! We went to Nassau twice on Disney Dream cruises with our son and family. Excellent cruises and ship by the way. The first time we walked around downtown while son's group played in the pools, hot tub and waterslide. The second visit we took a boat ride to a private swim beach called Blue Lagoon. DDIL set it up so I can't recall whether she did that through Disney or Blue Lagoon itself. Everyone had a great time even if some of us stretched out on loungers in the shade. 😎 Here's your horse and buggy @grapau27 You mentioned last year you and Pauline went for a ride in one on your visit to Nassau. Beach at Blue Lagoon, Nassau, April 2015 kiddie play area They also have a dolphin pool for your entertainment they like to play ball Me trying to avoid too much sun My handsome son and DH Another catamaran bringing guests into Blue Lagoon. You can see how secluded the lagoon is. So if you want to make your Nassau stay a beach day I recommend Blue Lagoon. I like the fact Disney's Castaway Cay has a dock so much easier for familes to get on and off. It's a big help. Hoping all of you have a great day! Stay safe and well, too.

Sorry so late tonight. Just busy all day with the book. Brenda @bennybear, Vanessa @JazzyV, Carolyn @Cruising-along, Jacqui @kazu, and Gerry @ger_77 thanks for your comments regarding Nan and babes today. Yes, it's been sad because we were so close. Bruce @aliaschief your Azamazing Evening looked perfect. Hope it lived up to that! Vanessa @JazzyV hope the treadmill is working well too. We may wait until Tuesday though because DH likes to walk outside on M-W-F. Depends on weather too. Carolyn @Cruising-along thanks for the photos of Corner Brook Stream Trail. I think we'd like to do that too. Better than looking for itch cream! Tony @sailingdutchy very nice photos of Corner Brook from you, too but sorry you got wet!! Eva @superoma what a wonderful story about your DF. You must be so proud of him. Graham @grapau27 congrats to Pauline and Sarah on their concert plans. Sounds awesome! Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser that is crazy about all the phony relative photos! Did they think they'd get away with it? 😂 Annie @marshhawk when you posted that it was supposedly 80 and sunny in Stone Mountain, it actually was here down south! Then an hour later the rain came pouring down. It's 70 now. Your neighbor Donna is not too bright, no offense to you. Not taking her dog to a vet when he has a tumor is cruel and inhumane. Mary Kay @cruzn single I'm really sorry the plastic surgery is still such a mess and you feel uncomfortable. Hoping the follow up is perfect and fixes you right up. Hugs from me (a melanoma skin cancer survivor).

I'm sorry Lorraine, your post came in with a bunch of them while I was typing and I missed it first time around. I hate when that happens! Thank you for your visual on DS Nancy holding her two great grandsons. That's how I picture them too. Funny story about the hottie in the neighborhood. Love it! Back to work on my photo book from last summer. It's different - that's for sure!

DH was tiring of waiting for service technicians to call us about our treadmill belt replacement, so he watched numerous YouTube videos on how to do it. Then yesterday after lunch he started taking it apart. Guess that's an engineer for you. I had to help at one point to slip the belt on. It had to be oiled underneath too. What a process! He tested it briefly yesterday and tomorrow will be the true test. He plans on getting up and being downstairs with me when I do my workout, to make sure all goes as expected. Fingers crossed! Maureen @RMLincoln, Terry @smitty34877, Graham @grapau27, Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser, Charlene @cunnorl, and Laura @Horizon chaser 1957 thank you all for your kind thoughts today. I appreciate your warm hearts. ❤️ Gerry @ger_77 happy birthday to your DSIL! Your menu for the birthday dinner sounds delicious, as usual.🍽️ Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser thank you for the information about the Dutch pipe organ on the Zaandam. We will be sure to check it out. It sounds awesome. Bruce @aliaschief thanks for your beautiful photos. We were in Valencia on a Sunday morning and it took hours for people to start showing up on the streets. Have a wonderful Azamazing evening! Laura @Horizon chaser 1957, you really do have a tent caterpillar problem from the looks of those canopies. Yikes! Good luck trying to take control over from them. Annie @marshhawk best of luck getting your porch ready for the indoor kitties. I sympathize with your malaise after Covid. It's real! Robert @Mtn2Sea thanks for your photo input on Corner Brook. It's a really lovely area as shown from your excursion photos. I don't see the man in the mountain either, so guess you have to be in your 80's.🤷‍♀️

Thank you my friend! Hugs to you and Allen.🤗

Thank you Debbie. Nancy is deeply missed by all who knew her sweet demeanor.

Thank you Nancy. She is in a better place, but I do feel sad about those tiny babies. I had time to edit my post and changed Volendam to Zaandam this summer. I've never sailed on Zaandam before. Looking forward to meeting Debbie and Sue.

Good morning friends! It's Sunday so a day off from exercise. I've had breakfast and am ready to tackle the Daily now. Thanks to Rich @richwmn for posting it for us today. And thanks to Graham @grapau27 for Father David's sermon. 😇 A nice group of days today. My twin has a good applesauce cake recipe so I should tell her this is her day to make one. I wasn't as big a fan of it as she was. Reminded me of fruit cake.🤔 Everyone who can should hug their cat this morning. 🐈 I don't have one but wish all the cats and cat lovers my best. National cheese day should go over big. I like cheese a lot and usually have at least a little bit everyday.🧀 I am fine with F. Scott Fitzgerald's quote. And a big day in U.S. golf when they won the Ryder Cup in 1927. No thanks to the scallop recipe today. But I appreciate you posting the recipe Debbie @dfish. Death and Taxes should be quite an interesting concoction. Can't wait to see that Dixie, @summer slope . A Syrah today for the wine, but I don't drink red so more for all of you. Thanks Ann @cat shepard for your report on it. Prayers for those on the Care list and even if you're not. 🙏 Three cheers to the Celebration list people. Hoping your happy events are going well, and to all the cruisers, fair winds and smooth sailing.🚢Thank you Vanessa @JazzyV for posting it for us! As to port of the day, Corner Brook, Newfoundland was a port on our Seabourn Route of the Vikings cruise in August 2018, Reykjavik to Montreal. It was here as our port of the day on July 7, 2022. The link is included as are photos from my one time there. I am going back in August on Zaandam along with Debbie @dfish and sister Sue. My report: Nearing the end of our fabulous cruise from and to Iceland, Greenland, and Maritime Canada, our port on Aug. 27, 2018 was Corner Brook. We intended to walk around the city and had no out of town plans for it. I had been bitten several times in Red Bay by those nasty black flies and intended to locate some itch cream at a pharmacy to help relieve the pain. Approaching the relatively large city of Corner Brook. Seabourn provided a shuttle bus to drive us to the City Hall. On our way back to the ship we just walked. It wasn't too far away. Along the way we saw this cute display. It seemed like a nice place and appreciative of their veterans of past wars. The light colored building with the bunting under the windows is actually a Museum attached to City Hall. It seemed to be a nice town and we enjoyed the short walk to a shopping area. A picturesque church along the route. I could show you photos of shopping centers and strip malls but I won't. We found the drug store, bought the itch cream and continued our hike. Along the walk back to the ship we saw a Canadian Legion Hall. Makes sense since in the U.S. we have American Legion Halls. Working up a thirst as we walked, it was good to see the ship, Seabourn Quest, awaiting our arrival. While we were gone crew had been using a Zodiac to stand in to paint the hull. I had seen them lowering a Zodiac at breakfast that morning. Leaving Corner Brook and heading to Quebec City. Then because I usually don't post food photos, or at least not often...This night we ate casually at the Patio Grill on the pool deck. I had grilled chicken, corn on the cob (I normally don't eat that much so they must have served me my plate load of corn), and lobster mac and cheese. Great memories of that Seabourn cruise! Hoping everyone enjoys doing something special this June 4. I am remembering my DS Nancy who passed away 2 years ago today. Also passing that day were Nancy's twin great grandsons who arrived months too early and could not survive. Heaven became a little more populated that day.😢 But today is also a happy day because it is DS and DDIL's 23rd wedding anniversary! Cheers to them.🥂

Vanessa, I hadn't heard Rosylyn Carter had dementia. I hope they are keeping former President Carter comfortable. Hospice can drag on for years for certain individuals included my DD DMIL. Thanks for your update on the Carters.

Our second time in Dover was May 6, 2019 on Prinsendam once again. We got on the shuttle bus to downtown and along the way saw this view of the Dover Castle on the hill, and a Banksy mural on a building. Here's a closer shot of it. I have read that later in 2019 someone whitewashed over the mural which was worth plenty as most Banksy artwork is. I haven't been able to figure out what has happened since it was whitewashed over so If anyone knows the latest, please let us know. We were dropped off downtown near the Dover Museum and had a look inside after a walk around the town. After our look around the museum, we boarded the bus again to look at some scenery. Prinsendam preparing to leave Dover. ferry in the harbour. Time to go!

We had two wonderful days in Dover while sailing on Prinsendam, Sept. 2018 and May 2019. The first time we took a double decker bus to the White Cliffs of Dover visitor center and began our hike along the trails there. Here is our view though from the ship before we left it that morning. On the path you could see where the Prinsendam was docked (right) and over to Dover Castle. We reached a photo spot where people were taking photos so of course did the same. There were horses in the area. Lots more trail to go. The farther you went the sparser the trail became At the end of the trail was the Victorian style lighthouse which of course had to have scaffolding around it to spoil the view. Knowing the schedule the bus had for returns we decided we'd better leave and hustle if we were going to make the next hourly ride. We could see the bus enter the parking lot from a quarter mile away, so broke into a jog and ran back just in time to jump onboard before the driver left. Whew! Thankfully we were five years younger then! Nevertheless we enjoyed that visit to Dover. I think I'll have breakfast now and take a look later for some photos from our 2019 visit when we stayed in town instead of walking the trails of the White Cliffs.

Good morning friends! It's a beautiful morning, 60F with sunny skies and 86 predicted for the high. A bit hot. Thanks Rich @richwmn for our Daily and Fleet Report. Good idea about the bike ride instead of the trail walk @Mr. Boston. Our trails are dry though since the incessant rains seem to have stopped this past week. Hopefully rain will come back soon. Hope the Chinese Dragon Boat people have a good time. I went to something like that once in Ann Arbor on their local river. Very festive! The Youngman quote is funny as usual. No thanks to the risotto dish. The drink sounds interesting and the Pinot Noir is good I'm sure but I don't like reds. The day in history goes back a long time, and if people hadn't been interested in exploring this planet back then, where would we be now? Thanks to our Food and Beverage ladies for their daily reports - Debbie @dfish, Dixie @summer slope, and Ann @cat shepard. Excellent job Vanessa @JazzyV on the C&C lists this morning. Hope you are feeling okay! Prayers for the Care list people and anyone else who may be in need. Especially @1ANGELCAT and Annie @marshhawk. Hurray for the Celebration list group who are either cruising or having happy events in their lives. Enjoy smooth seas and many exciting adventures! The port this morning is Dover, England. We had that port once almost exactly one year ago on June 2, 2022! I'll post the link below. I notice I was on that Island Princess Covid cruise that day on my way to Reykjavik from Halifax. Covid was beginning to rear its ugly head during those sea days but I didn't come down with it for about 10 more days. I was unable to access my photos while on the ship so didn't post photos. I'll go look for some now. Hoping all of you enjoy your Saturday and stay safe and well.

While working on my latest Shutterfly photo book project, I'm going through photos from my first full day of quarantine last June on Island Princess. DH was going to Medical to have a second Covid test at 9 a.m. to see if his negative had turned to positive. But first he was able to take numerous photos of the ship arriving in Haugesund, Norway from the balcony and I had never seen those photos before!! I was on the other side of the ship looking through a tender boat's windows trying to see something in my obstructed oceanview cabin at that same moment in time. WOW! It looked so pretty! I wish he had tested negative that day so he could go ashore but I'm just feeling lucky right now that I got some nice photos of Haugesund after all. Just not up close and personal!🌄

I'm so sorry to hear that Ninja is ready to cross over the Rainbow Bridge, so soon after Fluff. Hugs to you. That's a new one about editing emojis. Last week I was told I should remove the highlighted text, and they highlighted every bit of text in the post! I just think the amount of photos in the post was the problem and rectified that.🤪

Annie @marshhawk I love, love, love the garden photos. I could live in Butchart Gardens happily. I'm sorry things are so rough for you two. Sending hugs and prayers for your recovery - soon! Hope the cat situation becomes clearer too so you no longer have to worry where they are.