Brighton in the UK

I am now in Brighton in the UK with my friend Kathleen and we rented a flat near the sea in Brighton. We arrived here on Thursday in the rain but today was lovely, sunny and about 12 degrees Celsius

Our flat is the one in the first building on the second floor with the balcony on the right of the photo

Kathleen plans to run the Brighton marathon on Sunday so we are here a few days early to acclimatize.  Today we walked along the waterfront, saw the Brighton Pier, Brighton Wheel, the Carousel, had a great lunch near the Pier with a jug of Pimm's in the sunshine.

Brighton Wheel

the beach and Brighton Pier

Brighton Pier

Kathleen and the jug of Pimm's

We went to the Brighton Centre for Kathleen to pick up her runner's number - 2874 and we toured the marathon exhibit hall.  I found the softest socks made from bamboo - they feel great!

On the beach we saw this group of people and we figure they are a group of 'Find Waldo' aficionados  - here is a photo...

can you find Waldo?

Curacao - Bon Bini!

I have returned from a week in Curacao - aaahhh - the lovely warmth of the sun, island breeze and ocean water...

We had a grand time, explored beaches, toured the island, did a bit of shopping in Willemstead and more importantly spent time under an umbrella either watching the waves or listening to the kids in the pool.  My travelling companion - Lesley loves the sun so Curacao was great as it was sunny every day with a wonderful breeze to cool us off. 

the views from our room

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on the Santa Barbara plantation - a lovely hotel on the ocean about a 30 minute drive from Willemstead the main city on the island.  While it was mainly a beach or pool holiday, we did take a tour of the island where we explored Willemstead - a UNESCO World Heritage site, went to Boka Tabla where the waves crash into the limestone cliffs and you walk over lava fields.

Lesley at Boka Tabla

We also went on a beach tour where we visited three beaches - the prettiest is Grote Knip but we also visited Porto Maria and Cas Abou.

both photos are of Grote Knip beach

I am off again... another adventure

Hi there,  I am off again - to Curacao this time.  I head out on Saturday for a week of sun, sand and sea.
Curacao is one of the ABC islands - Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao and is a transcontinental island, geographically of South America - off the coast of Venezuela and also considered part of the West Indies.  Curacao is a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  Curacao is a multilingual society where four main languages are widely spoken - Papiamentu, Dutch, English and Spanish. 

Curacao is known for its beaches, scuba diving, a semiarid climate that is fairly consistently lovely with  temperatures between 25 degrees and 31 degrees celsius - aaahhhh...   I am travelling with a good friend who needs a break so we are both looking forward to a grand time.  Hopefully if I have access to wifi so I will be able to post some of our adventures.

In preparation - I had my toes done and selected blue in honour of the Curacao blue liqueur which we will have to try.  Here is a pic...

Jamaica - Yeh Mon!!!

Hi there - sorry for the long delay in posts - winter doldrums's and internet issues to blame. I am back in Toronto after a week in Jamaica with three friends. We had a great time - beautiful weather - sunny and warm with a wonderful breeze off the ocean, lovely resort, great food (way too much!) and fabulous friends. We had lots of laughs. We flew into Montego Bay and hopped on the bus to Runaway Bay to the Gran Bahia Principle -

the view from the lobby bar

another view of the resort

the view from our room just before sunset

We mostly spent our days - at the beach, Ellen swimming in the ocean, Eva walking the beach and Dianne and I under the palapas reading  - a grand vacation.  We took a couple day trips - one to Ocho Rios for shopping - well we did not really find anything we wanted in the tourist shops so we headed to the grocery store where we found lots to buy - coffee, jerk seasoning, rum cake, sorrel jam... all yummy items - we had a great time - asking local shoppers for recommendations - everyone was very helpful.

the beach and the resort

yep - those are my toes - the view from my chair in the shade...

We took a catamaran trip and visit to Dunn's Falls which we all climbed - it was easier than I thought though they had us all hold hands all the way up the falls - we thought it was like team building exercise - we were all successful making it to the top.

Overall - the trip was great - they Jamaican people were lovely, beautiful scenery - very green even though they have not had much rain, fabulous food - love that jerk chicken. I would go back.







The potential of time

I have been thinking of time quite a bit lately - perhaps because it may be the first time in 30 plus years that I am not confined by time - deadlines, meetings, events and at times even have time on my hands - yep we use the word time often.  I am currently listening to CBC radio and the program Q and they are talking about time - in particular about the leap second - hmmm... just a bit weird that I sat down to ramble about time just at this moment...  interesting...

As noted above - this is the first time in a very long time that I have limited commitments (or at least commitments that I get to choose) which I have to admit is liberating and a bit challenging - I am so used to being on that I don't know how to be off!  I am slowing getting use to it and fear that I will have it down pat just in time to head back into the rat race ;)  

I found this definition on www.thefreedictionary.com that I really like:  "time is the continuous passage of existence in which events pass from a state of potentiality in the future, through the present, to a state of finality in the past"   I think it is quite applicable to those of us in the protocol and event business and I love the phrase - "state of potentiality" to me that means anything is possible.   I recently attended a retirement celebration for a dear colleague (held in East York - had to get this in here) and the potential of time was very evident in the joy expressed by Betty on the opportunity to spend more time with family and friends and the list of travel booked for the rest of this year - Congrats Betty!! 

So it is back to opportunities and to what that means - right now - for me it is time and all that potential. 

2012 New Year's Dip!!

Happy New Year everyone! I celebrated the entry of the new year with wonderful friends and a glass or two of fine bubbly.  I hope you all had a lovely and safe evening.  The Dip part of New Years came today - January 1.  Good friends Ellen and Kathleen decided they were going to jump in the lake today and I tagged along to provide support - no - I did not even stick my toe in that cold water!!  But Ellen and Kathleen were soooo brave - I am in awe. 
Thankfully not the coldest day but temps are just above freezing and it is still cold and rainy - not beach weather at all. We arrived at Woodbine Beach and trekked across the sand to the holding tent for about a 45 minute wait - I'm sure it felt like 45 hours to Ellen and Kathleen. Slowly they peeled off the layers of clothing until 5 minutes out - they were in swim suits and a fleece top - then it is time and the fleece was left in the pile and they made their way to the tent entrance. Then they were off down the beach to the waves of water.   Here are some photos from their adventure.

Kathleen and Ellen - fully clothed

the start of the clothes removal

Yes - it really is freezing out...

look at them go...

Proof - they did it!

Wow!! frozen feet but lots of laughs

This was all to raise funds for the Great Canadian Chill - Stopping Kids Cancer Cold http://www.thesearsgreatcanadianchill.ca/ 

So the big question is - will we see you next year at the lake?  I am thinking about it but no promises. 

Down East for Christmas

I am down east in New Brunswick for Christmas, quite a change from travelling in Argentina. While it is not a frozen winter land yet - today the snow in gently falling and we are all hoping for a white Christmas. My niece Kim, calls it icing sugar snow.  As you can see - not much snow here but it is prettier than it was this morning.   These are some trees near my sister's house in Jardineville, New Brunswick.

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas full of laughter and joy.