Vacation – Page 2 – Just An East Coast Girl

Cruising’

A cruising vacation! Ahh…

Heading out on the Norwegian Pearl this morning. This is our fifth cruise and the 4th time for us on this particular ship. It just feels like home ❤ The Norwegian Pearl just finished a 2 weeks refresh at dry dock in Miami. There are lots of new updated features and we are the first aboard to check it out. How exciting!!

Here is the itinerary…

And here are some pics…

We arrived bright and early at the Port of Miami and checked in and got our stateroom cards. We had to wait until 12:00 to embark. First stop the Great Outdoors for a bit of food. It was overcast and windy with intermittent rain, so the pools and furniture were tied down. After discovering a mechanical problem during rechecks and requiring a part, we were delayed in our sail away. We were scheduled for 4pm, the first ship to leave, BUT ended up being the last ship to finally leave port. Two Norwegian, Two Royal Caribbean, and a Disney Cruise ship all went ahead of us. There’s so much to do on a ship, and David finally had someone to play a game of chess as we watched the other ships leave port. Since it was rainy and not great for being outside to watch the sail away, we had a lovely dinner ( complete with LOTS of desserts), and enjoyed some great Classical music.

We ended our day being rocked asleep in our cozy refurbished stateroomBon Voyage!

And so it begins…

HELLO Mom & Dad

A couple days in Miami before our cruise means it’s opportunity to visit Mom & Dad Goode. They have been spending their winters in Cortez, Bradenton Beach area of Florida for the past few years.

We headed to the coast through the Everglades on the Tamiami highway. We saw lots of alligators and interesting birds but because we were short on time we didn’t stop for pictures. We decided to meet halfway on the west coast of Florida in a quaint little town called Matlacha (pronounced “mat-la-SHAY”)

Matlacha is one of five communities on Pine Island in the Cape Coral area. It is an “Old Florida” fishing village, home to many brightly colored art galleries, island boutiques, seafood restaurants, and traditional Floridian cottages. We ate at a wonderful spot the “Blue Dog” The shrimp tacos and key lime pie were delish! We spent the afternoon browsing the shops and catching up with Mom & Dad.

After a bit more food we headed back to Miami to get a good night’s sleep!

Winter Vacay time

Today is the beginning of our Winter Vacay!

Bright and early, up at 3am

and off to the airport for a 6:40 flight to Toronto

AND

and Toronto to Miami.

I love vacation time but Winter vacations are the VERY BEST!!! It’s the escape from snow and cold to sun and sand that REALLY makes me HAPPY!!!!!

Glenn & Holly ( David’s older brother and wife) are with us this vacay. We are looking forward to a great time! Goodnight from Miami!

He’s HOME!!!

James, our youngest son is home from his Spring Break Vacay!

We picked him up from the airport this afternoon. He was a little tired, yet pumped from his past week’s adventure!

Last Friday night we saw him off at the airport and his adventures began…

James took lots of wonderful pictures and I can’t wait to see them all. Here are some of the pics he shared while he was away, just to stay in touch and I’ll share them with you because they are fantastic!

LONDON, UK

MALAGA, SPAIN

GIBRALTAR

AND my favourite ( on my bucket list now) CHEFCHAOUEN, MOROCCO, AFRICA 16938862_10154777400246858_899182724571522951_n

16836034_10154780443531858_6131252264943475993_o

One of the joys of travel is meeting new people. James and a new friend enjoy exploring CHAOUEN.

RABAT, MOROCCO

I’m so happy he had a wonderful vacation. I am so thankful he is home safe!!! I think it’s wonderful that he takes AWESOME photos that I can enjoy with him. I love the fact that adventure runs in our family and that we share this love of travel. And…I am thankful and excited that in a few more days my husband & I will be off on our own adventure!!!

We enjoyed hearing a few stories on the drive home and over a late lunch/early dinner ( James was starving)

screen-shot-2017-02-26-at-5-00-11-pm

And James, being the thoughtful son he is brought back his Dad some Moroccan Dirham and me a keepsake from “the blue city” Chefchaouen …a beautiful little rug ( I’ll use it as a table runner) made by the Berber people. The symbols on it are Berber symbols. And some beautiful soap with mint, a very popular scent there.

Thank you so much James, it’s wonderful to have you home!!

PS. If you’re on Instagram, you can follow James @jgoodephoto

Spring Break for James Feb 17

Midterms done! Tax sale done! NOW…a much needed break from school and taking a week’s vacation from work at Queen’s Municipality before tax season is in full swing. Where to go? That was James’ question when he was planning a vacation.

Tonight David & I saw him off at the airport!

Where is he going?

This is his itinerary! I am so jealous. I know he will have a wonderful time and take some awesome pics!!

James spent the last month deciding where he wanted to travel for a little break away…He LOVES adventure and has been to some pretty great places. He’s going by himself, but that’s James…he started traveling by himself at 15. He’ll fly to London and then take some flights, and buses and trains, stay in hotels and hostels and visit some interesting countries, cities and towns.

Have a wonderful time James, take lots of pictures and remember to check in with your Mama once and while…BUT then I don’t have to tell you that! 😀

Soaking up some sun

I’m not the only one that NEEDS their Vitamin ~~Sea~~ C. Someone else likes soaking up the sun.

This winter hadn’t been too bad…then…FEBRUARY! It’s the Snow month!!

Snowstorm on Thursday and NOW another BIGGER one again tonight… Yes, I live in the red area…60 cm. Yikes!!!

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE living in a place where we can enjoy all the seasons. But I do crave sunshine and blue skies. That’s why I take a few vitamins and eat lots of tropical fruit in the winter.

And usually plan a little getaway…

Ahh…

What helps get you through the “COLD & SNOW” months? Or is Winter your favourite season?

Wishing you a great week ahead!

Digging out from all this white and dreaming of white…

sands! Ahh…yes. Caribbean white.

Yes, that’s right! I’m dreaming of white sands. I got an email today!

screen-shot-2017-01-08-at-8-55-24-am

My, the folks at NCL are prompt! It’s still a few weeks away… 55 days to be exact.

Just after we got back from our 3 week Across Canada Trip in July we booked a cruise for March. David’s older brother and wife have never cruised and have been wanting to go on a cruise with us for awhile… We have done this exact cruise before BUT we love this particular ship and the ports.

And after this snow ( although VERY beautiful and wintery) I can’t wait to be on the ship cruising the beautiful Caribbean seas and relaxing on white sandy beaches!

537643_451929828208559_1636394625_n

469907986

So while we are digging out today ( ok David is digging out. He loves to use his snow blower the first few snowstorms, after that it gets OLD very fast), I’m checking in, and doing research on excursions.

Have a great Sunday! I LOVE planning vacations…

Time for brunch!

Top of the World!

It’s up and over …most of the time.

The trip from Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada to Shenyang, Laioning in China and return is a long one. It usually is about 29 hours from start to finish one way with wait times and long airport lays in Beijing and if there is weather like today’s flights, it’s even longer!!

Today is the return flight. I was up at 4 am Monday December 12 China time ( 4 am seems to be “my” wake time in China) It was that way when we lived there and last year when I visited, and same this year. I’m up and ready…and sad to be going…

We left the hotel at 8:30, arrived at Shenyang Taoxian Airport at 9:30.

Our flight was supposed to leave at 11:15 am but snow and ice conditions in Shenyang meant de icing before we could take off. It was almost 12 before we left and arrived in Beijing at Beijing Capital Airport at 1:30 ish.

Beijing is always a long lay on this trip anyway but when we landed we found out our flight was delayed because of snow in Toronto. An even longer lay over! So we wandered around browsing the shops, enjoyed the quaint spots to have a coffee, had a bowl of wonton soup and a Portuguese egg tart and coffee and had a massage. I opted for a 30 minute foot massage followed by a 15 minute shoulders and neck massage. I curled up under a cozy blanket and had a little nap , it was wonderful!! The guys had a body massage and while they enjoyed it, I don’t think they napped like I did.

Our flight revised time for take off was 19:50 Beijing time but it was 20:50 before we got away. A long 12 hour flight! I learn to pace the time by enjoying the hot meal, watching a movie and sleeping, getting up and down a bit and stretching. This time was great! David and I tried a new strategy seeing it was a Monday flight. We booked a window and an aisle with an empty seat in the middle. It worked this time!!! No body filled the seat and we had more space to stretch and take turns curling up on the seats. This was the best!!! It wasn’t a full flight either so it was a bit quieter.

Mid flight there is a snack of noodles, sandwich and cookies. I used to enjoy the noodles because the hot broth feels great when your throat is so dry. These last few times though I don’t get the noodles because of the salt content. I just carry my thermos bottle filled with hot water. Yep, I’m like the Chinese people. I love my hot water. It really works for so many things.

The flight pattern is generally “up and over “the Arctic and down in to Canada. I remember only one trip we flew over Europe and Russia. It made me nervous that trip because we never did that flight plan before, but I guess occasionally that flight plan is taken depending on air current.

About an hour and a half before landing breakfast is served. Who wants eggs on an airplane? Sorry, not me so I choose the Chinese congee which is like rice porridge with mushrooms. The fresh congee you get in a Chinese home or restaurant is so much better than this, but I prefer it over the eggs and little white sausage.

Then every thing happens quickly. Breakfast cleaned up, paperwork for customs and arrival passed out and needs to be filled out, a quick trip to the WC to wash up and apply a clean face and it’s time to land. The BRUTAL flight is over.

The short flight from Toronto to Halifax is usually a piece of cake, especially if you arrive in time or there’s no weather . Today is Monday December 12th still ( from the future…China time back to Canada time) we arrived at 19:50 lol and were delayed getting to the gate. With only about 20 minutes to make our flight we fast tracked through customs and security running fast all the way!!! Thankfully we had some pretty great Airport Security people.

We arrived at the gate sweaty and out of breath just in time to board. The flight to Halifax was smooth. So happy and thankful to be in Halifax after all the delays, I had to give this bear a quick hug!

The drive home was brutal. The 103 was a mess of ice and snow and very very slippery. Thankfully the guys weren’t driving and we had a chauffeur.

We’re HOME after a VERY long day and My clean fresh bed looks so inviting …Now sleep!!!!

No one likes goodbyes

It’s time! Time to say goodbye to my much loved China.

I can’t express how I feel about this every time. Each time we leave it gets harder. It takes me weeks to come around when we get home. It’s almost as if I am in withdrawal. Hopefully this year will be a little different since it’s Christmas in a couple weeks and I’ll have lots to do to prepare…no time to think!

Last night, our driver and his daughter came to say goodbye.

15327454_1173530099381858_2300043645582617540_n 15380654_1173530136048521_3987922344510536212_n

15442366_1173531619381706_2440254174859671048_n

And today at the airport my dearest friend came to see us off. He works for China Civil Aviation Authority and has security clearance. So he came right to our gate to see us on our plane.Goodbyes are never easy.

So for now it’s not goodbye…it’s like my driver and friend ALWAYS say…

see you later!

And now we fly!

Time Flies!

Time Flies! It is a saying my Chinese friends like to use. Our time sure has gone quickly. Today is the last full day in Shenyang. Sadly, tomorrow morning we are flying home!

BUT…today is Sunday. What to do?

Well…we ended up shopping. LOTS and LOTS of shopping!

We stopped at the bank for some money, very important because China is a CASH society more so than a card society. Especially when you’re a foreigner. They don’t want foreign plastic.

WE jumped in a cab and went off to Wuai market. On the way we stopped at the Catholic Church to show Ron the amazing architecture. Shenyang’s large, Gothic style city cathedral stands out quite clearly from the surrounding buildings. Generally the cathedral serves as a backdrop for photos, but on Sundays the area is teeming with people and dancing in the square. The church offers at least four Masses in Chinese each Sunday beginning at 7am.

Then on to Wuai. I didn’t get a lot of pics here. I was busy picking out a couple “Chinese fashions” ( no, not the hats)It’s so hard not to buy these cute outfits and for this reason among others is why I only brought carry on luggage and not a suitcase. We looked at clothes, handbags, watches, Chinese decor items…and bought a few things.

Then off to San Hao Street. This is the electronics street. The guys had a couple small items on their list and I wanted to get the screen on my iPhone replaced. I thought my screen was cracked in a few places but thankfully it turns out it was just the protective screen. I got one of the really good protective screens put on last year when I was here. I didn’t realize they would crack like this . So for 15rmb ($2.85) I got a new cover.

Street food was the way I dealt with my bit of hunger today. A street wrap and sweet potato. The guys opted for McDonalds.

David wanted to show Ron the tool market. Every guys dream under one roof. Whatever you can imagine. We asked the price of a HUGE vice at one stall. 800rmb. That’s $150. Only a $150. You would pay that for a small one at home.

We finished up the shopping back near the hotel in the underground fashion mall at Taiyuan Jie. This place is the absolute coolest for shopping with 2 levels all underground going for miles under the city. And again the coolest unimaginable thing happened. I was walking along and heard “Anna”. I turned around and there was my friend Wanda’s driver, Long. Oh Long! I can’t believe it’s you! I am so happy to see you. I spent many days with Wanda and her driver Long shopping. We would always check with Long before purchasing items, whether or not it was a good deal. Long has terrific fashion sense.

It has been a very full, very busy wonderful week. David was here for networking meetings and so we didn’t get a lot of time together but we both knew that going in to it. Tonight we had dinner together just the two of us. We took the subway to Mix C. I was there earlier in the week by myself and had been wanting to get back at night. WE had a wonderful dinner with jiaozi of course and then took a few pictures outside in the beautiful lights of the city. Ahh…Shenyang! You have my heart. I will miss you. ❤