The Daily for Friday July 23, 2021

[Sharon in AZ]

22 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Yes, he was added to the Future Cruise Listing for this week’s update 🙂 

I haven’t added mine yet due to so many disappointments but I’m thinking with the first cruise happening tomorrow it’s time. 

[Sharon in AZ]

36 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

 

Rich is coming? I didn't see his name. How fun!!

You are on the 21 day, Rich and I are on the 11 day and Linda is on for even longer. I wanted to do the 21 day but Craig hasn’t retired yet. 🙃

[kazu]

30 minutes ago, Sharon in AZ said:

I haven’t added mine yet due to so many disappointments but I’m thinking with the first cruise happening tomorrow it’s time. 

 

I think it is time 😉.   Remember, I need you on the updated listing in time to do the Bon Voyage.  

Do post soon, please.  I wouldn’t want to miss you 😔 

[TiogaCruiser]

3 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

We visited the retirement community yesterday in Gig Harbor, just across a bridge from Tacoma.  I thought the monthly charge of about $6K was pretty high, but now I understand the rationale.  It is kind of like insurance, so if a few years down the line you need to move into the assisted care portion, where the costs could be two to four time that amount, you still pay the same monthly amount and your spouse can continue to live in the apartment.  The people we met seemed to enjoy their life there, but I think we will be happier staying where we are for now and maybe think about buying a smaller one story house in the future.

I have a meeting in a couple of hours with my oncologist.  This has been an annual thing; hope it stays that way.  

That sounds similar to where my Dad lives.
 

We thought the same at first, but thought more about it as we looked at other options. When we ran numbers we found that a significant portion is tax deductible. And a full meal in the dining room per day. Or the alternative restaurant ( which we refer to as the Pinnacle Grill). The head chef was a head chef on HAL 25 years ago….  All food is scratch made, including soups, bread, desserts. Wine is affordable by the glass, or bring your own, corkage free. 😇Apartments are cleaned biweekly, they have lots of entertainment, amenities, a gym with included training and a spa. Regular “shorex”, many at no cost…..  seriously. Anyway, he’s really happy there. He invited me to lunch yesterday. 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

Good afternoon.  I got the yardwork finished before it got hot.  It helped that it was cloudy most of the moriing and there was a strong breeze.  I

 

We had a weird rain shower just after I finished. I was about to dust the car, when it started to rain hard, but not for long.  By the time I'd walked about 40-50 feet, the rain had stopped as quickly as it started.  

 

I have enjoyed the pictures of Alicante.  As I mentoned in my first post today, we spent a night in Alicante before our cruise.  Originally, we were supoosed to fly to Spain on 9/13/01, and spend two weeks touring Spain.  We had all our reservations including the Alhambra, but then things changed.  After waiting to see if the cruise would still sail, we flew to Barcelona on 9/18/01, and it was a strange flight.   We flew from DFW to JFK, as our alternative flight from ATL was over booked.  Our flight was practically empty, with one business section completely closed.  We could not even go up there to sleep.  As far as we could tell, of the passengers on the flight, there were probably less than 10 who's first lanuage was English.

 

We still had a week in Spain before the cruise, and we did not have any problems getting hotel rooms.  Only the Paradores were booked.  All the people we met were very nice and offered condolences for the tragic events on 9/11.   We enjoyed our time travelling around Spain and even went to Andorra.

 

My pictures from Alicante were taken in the early evening as we walked along the esplanade and had a nice meal at one of the sidewalk restaurants.  While they may some repeats or similar pictures, they should give you an idea of what the town looks like after the ship sails.

 

A view of the fortress from the waterfront

 

The marina

 

Downtown

 

The locals come out at night

 

We stopped here for gelato, but not vanilla 😁🍦

 

I would love to go back someday and spend more time looking around the town.

 

Lenda

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It looks different at night.

[StLouisCruisers]

I love seeing it at night!  Very pretty!

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, sailingdutchy said:

Good morning to all of the Daily organizers and all the loyal followers  . It is a very nice day here in SW Ontario and before I will go to do some harvesting in my gardens I would love to show some of the pictures from our day in Alicante when we were last there in April 2019 . 

 On one of the Prinsendam’s last cruises for HAL we landed in Alicante and I had set up a double walking tour with a very good guide first we went to Castillo de Santa Barbara  and afterwards we did some nice walking around the town itself . In our nice group there were also Jacqui and Jose @kazu

Hope I don't duplicate with @StLouisCruisers and  @Mtn2Sea

 

A distinct view of the Castillo from sea level , for most of the way up we used the elevator however the last few and quite steep hundreds of meters we climbed ourselves.

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful clear and very warm day , and we had great views from up there ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to find shade wherever we could to listen to the many stories of our guide , also of the horrible years under Generalissimo  Franco  when many prisoners were imprisoned here 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful architecture in the downtown 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mercado Central 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the food in the market made us hungry and thirsty 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my favourite pictures of the day  “ Who is leading who ?” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just stay in the shade 

 

 

There also is a story about this image of face in the rock ……..

 

 

 

 

 

3.15 time to get out of the heat and go back Home to the Prinsendam  and drink a nice cold beer , but a very nice day was had by all in Alicante , Spain ! 

 

 

 

Tony 😄

Lovely photos Tony.

There is a large shopping centre now in Alicante.

In the past we have just passed through Alicante on the way to Benidorm.

Graham.

[grapau27]

5 hours ago, kazu said:

Found my pictures for Alicante and will use he most recent ones from our cruise on the Prinsendam in 2019 (same time as St Louis Cruisers).  

 

I’ll try not to repeat pictures and there are a few.

 

Castillo de Santa Barbara:

 

 

Monte Benacantil:

 

 

Raval Roig- Virgen del Socorro:

 

 

 

More of Castillo de Santa Barbara:

 

 

 

 

 

And of Monte Benacail:

 

 

 

 

Nice photos.

Graham.

[USN59-79]

Got my blood drawn and tested and saw my oncologist this morning.  Not much change in the leukemia, no treatment recommended, and I will see him again next year.  To celebrate, I stopped at Costco on the way home and bought a case of their Malbec.

Ray

[Sharon in AZ]

3 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Got my blood drawn and tested and saw my oncologist this morning.  Not much change in the leukemia, no treatment recommended, and I will see him again next year.  To celebrate, I stopped at Costco on the way home and bought a case of their Malbec.

Ray

Great news!!

[grapau27]

4 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Got my blood drawn and tested and saw my oncologist this morning.  Not much change in the leukemia, no treatment recommended, and I will see him again next year.  To celebrate, I stopped at Costco on the way home and bought a case of their Malbec.

Ray

Excellent news.

Enjoy your Argentinian? Malbec.

Graham.

[USN59-79]

1 minute ago, grapau27 said:

Excellent news.

Enjoy your Argentinian? Malbec.

Graham.

It is Argentinian, rated at 92 points and costs roughly $7. a bottle.  Can't beat it as a go to wine.

Ray

[grapau27]

Just now, USN59-79 said:

It is Argentinian, rated at 92 points and costs roughly $7. a bottle.  Can't beat it as a go to wine.

Ray

👍 Good choice.

Graham.

[jimgev]

11 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Got my blood drawn and tested and saw my oncologist this morning.  Not much change in the leukemia, no treatment recommended, and I will see him again next year.  To celebrate, I stopped at Costco on the way home and bought a case of their Malbec.

Ray

Definitely worth celebrating.Glad to hear the good news.

 

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

23 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Got my blood drawn and tested and saw my oncologist this morning.  Not much change in the leukemia, no treatment recommended, and I will see him again next year.  To celebrate, I stopped at Costco on the way home and bought a case of their Malbec.

Ray

 

Good news.  Enjoy your wine.

 

Lenda

[Suslor]

25 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Got my blood drawn and tested and saw my oncologist this morning.  Not much change in the leukemia, no treatment recommended, and I will see him again next year.  To celebrate, I stopped at Costco on the way home and bought a case of their Malbec.

Ray

Love their Malbec as well and buy a case whenever we (1x a month) whether I need it or not 🤪. 

[lindaler]

5 hours ago, Sharon in AZ said:

And Rich!  😉

Wow, it will be a memorable cruise getting to meet so many famous people. 

[kazu]

47 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Got my blood drawn and tested and saw my oncologist this morning.  Not much change in the leukemia, no treatment recommended, and I will see him again next year.  To celebrate, I stopped at Costco on the way home and bought a case of their Malbec.

Ray

 

That is truly wonderful news 👍. So happy to hear it and you deserve to celebrate 🙂. Wish our Costco had wine 😔 

[kazu]

40 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

It is Argentinian, rated at 92 points and costs roughly $7. a bottle.  Can't beat it as a go to wine.

Ray

 

Argentinian wines are great.  If I couldn’t see where you are from, I would know it was the U.S..  We can’t get an Argentinian wine here for $7 (even with the exchange rate) in Canada.

 

Now you know why I treat Total Wine or other spots in Europe like a candy shop 😉 

[kazu]

59 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Lovely photos Tony.

There is a large shopping centre now in Alicante.

In the past we have just passed through Alicante on the way to Benidorm.

Graham.

 

 

I actually enjoyed Alicante more than Benidorm but of course, Benidorm is more of a resort area 😉 

 

58 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

Nice photos.

Graham.

 

Thanks Graham.

[TiogaCruiser]

39 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

It is Argentinian, rated at 92 points and costs roughly $7. a bottle.  Can't beat it as a go to wine.

Ray

I heard Malbec.
 

Can you name names?

I have to go to Costco tomorrow.😇 A bottle just MIGHT find it’s way into my cart…..

Yesterday I took my neighbor to the airport in a nearby county, where I seldom go. On the way back I took a short detour to a store I found online that carries my favorite Malbec (Graffigna). The Total Wine by us no longer carries it. We discovered it when we RAN OUT of our favorite in Yosemite, so we bought what they had ( it was an emergency, after all), and that’s how we met.

 

Am braving Costco tomorrow, first thing. They usually have those huge shrimp, and I’m planning @aliaschief’s salad. I made it last night with lessor shrimp, which I marinated. Turns out, the marinade was NOT a good idea. It needed the freshness of good grilled shrimp. So we’re having a do-over Sunday, when Dad joins us. Dessert will be a repeat of last night’s: lime gelato, accented with limoncello, a little chili powder and a bit of jalapeño. 😛😋

 

 

[grapau27]

2 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

 

I actually enjoyed Alicante more than Benidorm but of course, Benidorm is more of a resort area 😉 

 

 

Thanks Graham.

It is 33 years since we went to Benidorm which has had a facelift since then.

We prefer the Malaga area in the Costa del Sol or Barcelona but those pictures of yours of Alicante were lovely and a cruise stop there in the future is something I will look forward to.

Graham.

[rafinmd]

1 hour ago, USN59-79 said:

Got my blood drawn and tested and saw my oncologist this morning.  Not much change in the leukemia, no treatment recommended, and I will see him again next year.  To celebrate, I stopped at Costco on the way home and bought a case of their Malbec.

Ray

Awesome news!

 

Roy

[bobpatj]

Back from VA and find myself on the last page, again.  There’s a lot to catch up!  We were in Alicante in 2017 on Koningsdam’s October transatlantic cruise.  We took a river cruise first and chose a cruise on a BHB rather than fly home.