Sharon in AZ

Congratulations on adopting Monty! And what a great name, actually a nickname, for him. Isn’t it funny how people choose pet names? It took us days to name Blue. And one day I looked at him and said that he had a blue cast to his skin (he’s hairless), and said Blue! That’s it, plus it’s also my favorite color. Would love pictures of your new family member!

Happy Birthday Carol! Enjoy your special day! Prayers for Sam’s recovery. Enjoy having your grandson staying with you. 🍰🎉🎂🎊🧁🍾🎈

Wow! I am beyond overwhelmed by all the Birthday wishes from my Daily friends. Thank you so much! You all are the best! I’m having a great Birthday. Craig took me to lunch. Our favorite pizza place closed, they never recovered after the shutdown, so we went to our second favorite place. Mine is called the Tuscany. Sausage, portobello mushrooms, onions, fennel, olives. Craig’s usual Margherita. @USN59-79 Can you explain about your eye meds? Are you taking a tablet along with the regular injections? My DH has it and I’m curious. It runs in his family, some have it worse than others, so it might not be the same type as yours. Right now he’s on special vitamins. BTW, I would love to try fish head soup, just never had the opportunity. But I think I’d skip eating the eyes. I’ve heard that the meat in the fish cheeks is really good. @marshhawk & @dfish — I like Spam but I don’t eat it very often. It’s good in fried rice. I also love love love those little Vienna sausages in the little can. I try not to eat those too often either. When I was a child my DM would make me a Vienna sausage sandwich on buttered soft white bread. Yum. I’ve tried Vegamite, but it’s not my thing.

Thank you Mr VMax! Happy to hear you and DW enjoyed the sparkling wine that we couldn't due to Craig's covid isolation and taste buds. He did enjoy his Negroni's though! You disembarked today, I need to catch up on your "Live From" and see how it went. Ours was super smooth.

A very early good morning! It’s 4:30 am here. Still can’t sleep more than 4 hours, so instead of tossing and turning I decided to read the Daily. @grapau27 Graham, so happy that you are better after your injection! Great news. I hope everyone has a great Friday!

Sandi, thank you for the Birthday wishes! If you originate at Heathrow you shouldn’t have a problem if you arrive early enough, our problems were mostly changing terminals for our connecting flights. We spoke with someone at our hotel in Barcelona who flew directly from Heathrow and he didn’t have any problems. I’m sorry about your DH still having to stay in isolation. It’s crazy that he’s still testing positive. Does he feel better? Well, that all makes sense and I hope it improves and that more people want jobs. Yes, I feel better but still can’t sleep more than 4 hours. Thank you for the Birthday wishes!

Good evening! I'm late, very late, but have been trying to catch up with Daily family news -- just so much to comment on and I don't want to miss anyone but I probably will so please forgive me...... @VMax1700 -- Mr VMax! Happy Birthday!! and on the Oosterdam, so wonderful! @Quartzsite Cruiser -- Lenda, so good to hear that DH is home and doing exercises. I worry that will be my DH someday, he has terrible back issues and it runs in his family, unfortunately. Many family members have had back surgery including his sister. @StLouisCruisers -- Sandi, so happy you are out of covid jail and hoping DH is out as I type this. Happy Birthday to your DD, it's mine also, she picked a lovely day to be born. @kazu -- Jacqui, what a mess with your purse and phone! Criminy! I'm hoping you get your replacement very quickly and I'm sure you can transfer all info to your new phone even though the old one is damaged. Have a great time on your long weekend. It's okay to cry. It's okay to have a heavy heart. @dfish -- Debbie, I love the blonde! @Crazy For Cats -- Jake, Bon Voyage! And Happy Birthday to your DH! @bennybear -- Brenda, I was saddened to read that your DH has a melanoma. Hopefully it was caught early and he gets clear margins quickly. I worked for a doctor once who repaired facial skin ca after Moh's surgery so I know how important it is to do a skin check. @grapau27 -- Graham and @VictOriann -- Ann Graham, sorry I'm late in responding, but we did go through Heathrow. It was horrible, but we made it on the plane to Phoenix thank goodness. I was really stressed out for about an hour after getting on the plane, even the flight attendants were concerned about me. They kept asking me if I was okay -- WELL, no I wasn't okay, I ran just to get on that plane after being in an eternal security line going from terminal to terminal! One commented about my blood pressure and that I could have a second glass of wine. It just took me a long time to get over it, plus British Airways changed our seats on us but at least we were together (one in front of the other) at window seats. AND then once on the plane, it didn't leave for another hour and a half! Due to a "tug" that moves the plane from it's spot because it can't back up by itself. Then worrying that we will miss our next connection. Criminy! Sorry, I'm just venting. I have some "not's" and some "do's" for the next international flight. Ann, don't stress too much about Heathrow, the one good thing is that they do have staff going through the security lines calling out flights and getting you pushed ahead if need be. That's the only way we made it on our flight. I know a lot has been said about the airlines but from this experience it seemed to be the airport staff or lack of and staffing issues. We had many security check points that had numerous lanes, but only a few were open and many were closed, this with a long line of passengers, a really long line of passengers. We got wrong information many times, getting in wrong lines and wondering if we were in the right line, finally realizing that we were in the wrong line then asking a uniformed airport agent where to be and getting wrong information, then asking again and then getting in the correct line. Signage was horrible. Sheesh! To me that is not the airlines fault. And I know we weren't the only passengers having problems. I hope everyone has a good night and a super weekend!

A very early Good Morning and Happy Thursday! Ever since we’ve been home I’ve been struggling with sleep due to jet lag and can’t seem to sleep more than 4 hours at night with my usual afternoon nap. So, I’ve been in a fog and am very behind on the Daily. My body thinks night is day and day is night. I didn’t have this problem when we arrived in Barcelona and in the past have been able to recover faster. Oh well, eventually I’ll get back to normal. I’m on my iPad and can’t type as well as I can on my phone so I’ll try and post again later but wanted to wish— Roy @rafinmd the Happiest of Birthdays!!

Good afternoon everyone from home! Just a short check in to say that we arrived home safely after a very long day of traveling, approximately 25 hours from beginning to end, some of it due to flight delays and most of it because we have to take an extra flight to get to Tucson. We left Venice airport at 8:15 am and got home at 11:30 pm home time. Working on unpacking and laundry. We did use the hotel laundry and I’ll just say that we are so fortunate on HAL to have free laundry. Have a great day everyone! We boarded our Venice to London flight the old fashioned way. A delightful and delicious chocolate mousse on the flight. My pre dinner cocktail. I don’t remember the name. It was good. BTW, I was watching Rocket Man with subtitles. Subtitles really help me if there’s background noise. It was a good movie.

I faxed my shareholder information for our past cruise beginning June 1st and received a confirmation email that it had been credited about 2 weeks later.

Good evening from Venice! I can’t believe this is our last night here. And I can’t believe how much I love this place. I was able to take a short nap, clean up and pack before going to our Altana for a glass of wine. Right now we are back at Alla Strega, an old place from before that we are happy is still open. This is our third time here. It’s lovely. We like to eat in the courtyard. Those really are grapes. Thank goodness our flight is at 11:00 am. I have a multitude of pictures that I haven’t shared so I’m going to post more when I get home. I’ll try to check in between flights. Dreading London…… Have a good evening everyone!

Bon Voyage!! Looks like a wonderful cruise. Happy Birthday to DH!! ⛴🥂🧁🍾🎂🍰🥮🎉🎁🎊🎈🎈🎈⛴

Good afternoon from Venice! My first post disappeared and I was able to get half of it back so I’m trying again. I decided I needed more gifts so we went back to the Rialto market for salts. I ended up getting more than just salt. They have wonderful salts seasoned all different ways. Then to another church that has 3 Tintoretto’s, San Cassiano. They are all at the main altar. Turns out he was a parishioner of the church. The Resurrection The crucifixion The Descent into Limbo Now we are at Cafe Florian for one last time. An expensive lunch. But well worth the ambiance. Now I have to face packing. Bummer. Have a great day everyone!

@HAL Sailer — prayers for your nephew and his recovery.

Joy, we love Venice too. It’s our 4th time. Twice we rented apartments and twice we’ve been at this same hotel. I’m seriously thinking about canceling our future cruise plans and booking just Venice. But we have a lot to discuss, not sure just now. However, I’ll never come in June again. It’s too humid and crowded with young kids and college students. Early spring is the best. And yes, the ladies are still sitting and making lace outside. I bought some lace coasters but I’m not going to use them as coasters. What are Cape Cod’s?

Susan @durangoscots — Happy Birthday!! Enjoy your special day!

I love my flip flops! I couldn’t live without them. My current favorite are Crocs. I have 2 pair. I use them as house slippers as well. My tender feet don’t like walking on tile. I love vegetables and probably eat them more than meat. Our meal at Gatto Nero was excellent. The pictures are on Craig’s phone so I’ll try to post them later. Burano Burano cat

Good afternoon from Burano! No pictures of Burano yet but we did visit another church on our way to the Fondamenta Nuova. Santa Maria Assunta Ai Gesuiti, officially dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, was built between 1715 - 1729. The Jesuits were responsible for the pastoral service. The central altar is magnificent. On one side is this spectacular marble shaped into drapery. And a Tintoretto on one side. He was quite prolific. A snack before lunch. Sardines in saor. And pulpo We are hoping to have lunch at Gatto Nero.

My DH was in 6013 so it isn’t just for crew. He said there were people around because he could hear them coughing. He spent a lot of time on his balcony. BTW, sorry if you said this (I’m a bit behind reading), but for us both dining levels were open. Deck 2 was anytime dining and Club Orange, Deck 3 was fixed dining. Both levels were only open on one side.

I love the blue heart!

Joy, this is an amazing picture! Jacqui, I have tears in my eyes reading about the heart in the pocket with some of Jose’s ashes. What a special and touching thing to make sure he is with you always. ❤️

Good afternoon from Venice! We are having lunch right now at our favorite pizza place, Alla Strega — the witch. We had pizza last night at a place we had been to before but it was horrible so had to come back here a second time, might make it three times before we leave. I had lasagna and Sir Craig had pizza. Yum! It was so good that I forgot to take pictures. Visited San Zaccaria today. Supposedly the doges liked to visit the nuns here but not for religious reasons. Once a year they made an official visit with their entourage and would sit in these chairs. A Tintoretto in the choir chapel. The birth of John the Baptist. Beautiful mosaics. Why would you cover them up? Look closely toward the altar for the mosaic floor. That’s all for now. I’ll try to share more later. Have a great day everyone!

On your iPhone click on add files next to the paper clip. All your pictures will show. Select and add from there. Sometimes I add pictures one at a time and sometimes several at a time. I’m sure you can figure it out. Such sad news about Buddy. I can’t imagine his pain and what he has gone through. Prayers for him. 🙏

Good afternoon from Venice! Long day of walking today. But we were able to cover a lot of ground. Frari, San Rocco, fish and fresh produce market, two campo’s we frequented 17 years ago, our old apartment, searching for a restaurant we liked (it must be closed). We saw the moon last night too. It was beautiful, especially from a vaporetto stop. Have a great day everyone!

Oh dear, I am so sorry about DH. I was tested twice and self tested once. I did the self test because I had symptoms and didn’t want to go on an excursion without knowing. The others were by the ship health center. All negative but still had symptoms, dry cough (and I never cough), cold symptoms and even laryngitis. Crazy. I am praying for Buddy. Way too young. Thank goodness for your niece and your family. 🙏🙏🙏