MrToblerone

Lovely photo Melody. Glad to hear life is returning to normal Lois. Lucky for us we all had covid mildly and finished isolating in time for Christmas. I also love the smaller ships Cynthia and also got very carried away with travel this year but no regrets there!

Oceania are great enjoy your cruise Cynthia . Are you on their new ship Vista ?

Just been catching up on the going ons while at the lake with Covid .Our entire family has it, such bad timing with my new job and the busiest time of year but I don’t want to give it to everyone. Glad your stent came out without any drama Lois and sorry to hear you have another stone but doesn’t sound major. What a nice time to be cruising pre Christmas and escaping the madness for those cruising and Kat you are fully in the madness ,I hope more snow arrives for the holiday visitors.I will miss going to Whistler in February but looks as though they are also having a slow start.

Hi Sherri The downtown of Auckland has an area called Britomart and also Commercial Bay within walking distance if you are into shopping.If not a ferry to Waiheke and go to a vineyard .St Heliers is a nice area to get an uber or bus to and lunch at a waterfront cafe .There is a hop on hop off bus but I have not been on that. Hope this helps and happy to answer any questions regarding New Zealand

Hi Cynthia and girls That martini does look delicious. I hope you managed to avoid covid ! Look forward to reading about your travels ,I would love to go back to the hotel you recommended in Rome one day. I have been researching Spain for out two weeks prior to the cruise. Off to work now ,the Christmas rush is slow this year ,a lot of people are having to be careful of their spending over here.

Heres hoping your numbers rectify now . Ive heard that kidney stones can be very painful but I'm not a medical person . I hope you're home recovering shortly Lois.

Sending good positive thoughts Lois. Glad to read you got home safely Kat

all the best for your next results Lois .

Happy Anniversary Melody! Have a great trip Kat ,I also hate early starts but will be worth it once your on holiday

Exciting to have booked a cruise Melody. Im sorry to read about your knee Cynthia and hopefully it is improving daily. You will be getting busy with work soon Kat I am guessing My husband is heading to Houston tonight and will hopefully get to Trader joes to buy some nice products .

Wow Melody , what a feast ! I didnt know a turkey could get that big. Looks chilly

I hope you are all enjoying your Thanksgiving celebrations in the USA. Love the view Cynthia,nice memories of our trip at the same hotel in August,feels like months ago now.Enjoy your cruise and I look forward to reading about it.

Nice shrimp ! We call those prawns . Sherri glad to hear you loved Valencia ,I am looking forward to visiting on our cruise next June. My husband is on his way to LA ,so I’m sending him a list for trader joes! Now time to get dressed for work,it’s hard as it’s not Winter but still not overly warm.My hair is also growing back and has a mind of its own!

Bon Voyage Lois !

Thanks Cynthia, What a great idea ,I will take some of those.Let me know any other tips if you think of anything. We have actually just booked into the Barcelona hotel you recommended ,decided to try somewhere different and we are traveling up to the Costa Brava for a week before our cruise so need to budget, we don't mind small rooms as long as its clean and quiet.

Very cute shoes Lois. We are in the process of booking the Azamara cruise as the itinerary is perfect . We fly back to NZ from London and the cruise finishes in South Hampton UK ,so saves a flight from Spain .Read they have shower curtains that annoy people but Im sure we can cope, haha

Thanks Cynthia , we went on Oceania years ago and the food was very good. Azamara does have some great itineraries , we may have spoilt ourselves on Seabourn and Silversea but we are seriously considering the cruise as it does a complete circle around Spain ,we are going for the destinations and enjoy meeting like minded people. Kat I wear the Nars tinted moisturiser everyday as do both my daughters.Did you like it?

Welcome back Cynthia and wow off to Rome so soon ,I’m like you I love the med as well,it’s a shame it takes 24 hours of flying for us to get there! Have a wonderful cruise Sherri. My husband just got his leave for next June so time to plan a trip for then. Has anyone tried Azamara? They have a great itinerary around Spain

Melody Im so sorry to read of your and Les's news ,what a tough time you've been having. Glad to also read that Cynthia is having a great time and Lois you must be off soon on the Nova?Hope I haven't lost track of your travels Lois .Kat its nice you have a girls getaway planned.Sherri my part time job is going well I just hope I can get as much time off as I like! Need to tell my new boss I want next June off ! With last years illness behind me I always think its important to have something to look forward too 🙂

I used to love going into Crate and Barrel,Ikea and Pottery Barn in the USA and Canada when I was a flight attendant as we have none of those shops in New Zealand. I will get a discount but its funny when you work in a hop you don't actually buy as much as you would think. There were only two ships in Santorini when we were there in August and it was still so crowded.

Hi Lois,I am work three days a week in a homeware shop.Its a little bit like the Pottery Barn in the USA

Im glad you are enjoying your cruise Cynthia , sounds lovely. Lois glad youve sorted your leak. Everyone else hello and You all have Halloween to look forward to . That hummus sounds delicious Kat. My husband and I are at the lake for a few nights doing lots of jobs , the garden is mainly self caring but grows so fast . We are also finding it cool after our week in Fiji with the family , its Spring here but still seems very cool , hopefully it will warm up soon . Its so nice having time off before my new job starts next week

Yay on kidney check up from me as well Lois.I had my three month check up last Friday and got clearance for another three months. I look forward to hearing about any Spain or Italy research you do Kat ,we hope to go back to Europe next year but have to wait for my husband to confirm his annual leave for 2024. We leave for Fiji on September 30 ,looking forward to some warm weather and swims in the ocean. The islands in Fiji are great and the Fijians are such lovely people so we are all excited

I forgot to reply to Cynthia that in Gythion we just wondered around, there wasn't much happening as it was a holiday apparently ,so we just had a drink on shore then tendered back to the ship. Kat ,when we were in Barcelona we stayed at the Yurbban trafalgar ,my third visit but now I would choose the Yurbban Passage hotel next door ,its sister hotel.

Lois the new Nova looks lovely ,we nearly went on the inaugural but decided 7 nights wasn't long enough ,we prefer 10 . Good luck with your searching Kat. Enjoy your cruise Cynthia. Everyone here seems to be traveling if not having surgery or family having surgery ,such is life as we get older !