Fourth of July

The fourth was a nice day. I arrived at Mom’s in SC and two of my brothers and sisters in law were already there. Al&Brenda, Mike& June had waited for me before going to the Lexington County Peach Festival. There was an antique car show that the guys really enjoyed. When I think antique car I’m thinking a 30’s, 40’s car. Well, surprise for me, they are all cars from my childhood and young adulthood. What’s up with that???

We went through the arts and crafts part of the Festival but the shows were nice because they were under lots of shade and very pleasant. The O’Kaysions were good and sang the oldies.

The best part was the homemade peach ice cream, peach smoothie ,peach tea, peach shake, peach cobbler, peach muffins, peach bread, peach pound cake, and the plain old juicy tasty South Carolina peach…yum!

We arrived back at Mom’s and Wayne arrived shortly. We had a huge dinner. Mom had made a ham that was wonderful and Brenda made potato salad and she had made several cakes and a peach cobbler that was to die for.

We heard the fireworks going off from her porch but couldn’t really see any. It was nice sitting out on the porch on this summer day filled to the gills with ham and cobbler and enjoying being together on this holiday.

What a Trip

What a trip, figuratively and literally. Bill and I went to places we have never seen before and have a stock hold of memories to enjoy for always. We met so many people from so many places. We will remember them in times when something will trigger a memory. From Cabin Stewart to family member we met for the first time, they come in view from time to time and we smile or laugh at something they did or said. Jeni’s new family members that were able to come, Kay and Alan, Chris and George, Lynne and Dave, were incredible. We felt right at home, even on this huge ship because they were there and they were family. I felt like it was always so. We look forward to meeting more of Tom’s family in October when we will travel to PA to see them and celebrate Jeni and Tom.We met so many of their friends that became ours as well on this cruise. Barb and Dale , Jeanette and Jim, Clarke, Evlyn, Doris, Yvonne and Phillip, and the two other women’s name have escaped my memory as names often do but I remember them and thankfully, I have their names written down at home.
We danced, we went on shore and took in the sights and sounds, smells and culture of these places that we now have great memories of. Amsterdam, Netherlands; Stockholm, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; St. Petersburg, Russia; Tallinn, Estonia; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Amsterdam again. When we hear the names we will see the cities and countries in our mind. That is truly priceless. I’ll think of bikes, canals, lovely parks and flowers, town centers, all the history in these places just speaking to me as I walked where great and infamous people walked and where the good people of these lands lived generation after generation loving the places I saw with my own eyes. We dressed up and dressed down, dressed for cold weather after being in 90degree weather, took umbrellas and raincoats everywhere ready for the rains that eventually came. We watched the people of Scandinavia and Russia and tried to see who they were and how like us they were in most ways; they just live in another place. That shouldn’t surprise me but it usually does. I expect the differences, the likeness surprises.
I was surprised at how fit and green Scandinavia and its peoples are. They ride bikes, have a lot of organic grown, I didn’t like their food but I know that was because it was so healthy in comparison to how we eat here in the states. I think they exercise more, eat better, think more about the environment and life on the healthy side. They take pride in that as well. They recycle power, use windmills, find ways of powering their worlds in a more earth friendly way. I am talking about Scandinavia in most of these descriptions, Russia was a whole different place in my mind and I have to process that more. I know we only saw very small pieces of these countries and we can’t paint the whole country in that light, but I have a better idea than I did. I see why traveling is such a good education.
I was ready to come home but I just wanted to bring my new family home with me. I miss them and think about them often now. I look forward to going to PA. We had hoped to go this month but it was just too soon after our three week absence. Bill had to get back into the business and get caught up there and I had to take off to SC for my Mom’s birthday and then on to North Carolina for the summer. Ah, the life we live: I am thankful.

Some of our wonderful memories:

Doris, Yvonne, and Bill became thespians or showed that side of them. Some singers chose Doris to sing to and then Yvonne and Bill became actors in a skit that had us rolling in the floors. I did not know about this side of my husband. He really cracked us up. “I’m going to KEEL you with venom” was his famous line. LOL The comedian kept calling him Phil which just made us laugh harder.
Kay showed a side to her that I think her children were more aware of than we. Pam said she sent them to catholic school as a ruse to cover up. LOL I laugh every time I think about this. Don’t you just love how she coordinates her clothes with her ride? What a stylish lady, er, x-star!
The dance lessons were harder than I thought but something clicked enough times to make it exciting and the desire to be able to do it was stronger than the ability. We learned that it takes a lot of energy and thought and practice, practice, practice to do these dances. The seed has been planted and we do want to learn more. It’s wonderful to have an in-house dance instructor(s) in our family now. It’s our own fault if we don’t learn with all these benefits. This is a secret dream of both of us, to dance. Bill has always been able to move around on the dance floor, nothing formal, but I feel like two left feet and have always been that way. I am convinced now that I can learn though so that is a gift.
Bill and I had acupuncture on board. We had some laughs over that I do think it might have helped some but it was more the act of trying something new that was appealing and fun. I even came away with some Chinese herbal remedies for my knees so that will surely mean I won’t have to have surgery if I take them. This trip could have saved us a lot of money.  Bill did not listen to the woman’s promises and so he came away with just a relaxing time spent in the darkened room after the needles were inserted and considered himself ahead.
This trip has enriched our lives for sure. I’m so thankful for the opportunity and the benefits we received. I even won $85 at the casino but promptly put it back in and lost it. I have to learn to stop while I’m ahead.
After our cruise from hell that we took 30 years ago, this is as different as night and day. I’m so glad we went.

Full Circle - Amsterdam

Back to the Netherlands. Bill and I spent the night at the Sheraton Airport Hotel before flying out the next day. We didn’t want to be stressed if it took longer to get off the ship than we anticipated. Our first cruise took forever and we were fit to be tied when we finally got off. This time the disembarkation (or whatever it is called) went smoothly and quickly and we could have easily caught a flight out in time. We are glad we stayed the extra night though because the airport there was wonderful.



We didn’t realize how tired we were from our grand vacation. It had a whole mall inside and a 24 hour coffee shop. It was amazing and perfect. We rested, people watched, enjoyed our coffee and meals and some calming down time together. We began reliving our cruise already.
There was a prototype electric car at the airport that looked futuristic and interesting,

I am so glad we were able to stay over the extra day because we were able to go to the Van Gough Museum. I was blown away by all the famous paintings I have seen in pictures through the years. To see the originals was mind boggling. While leaving the museum we saw several people get off a bus with bikes folded.
I was also able to get some souvenirs for people that I wasn’t able to find before. Things were so high and cheaply made it seemed or you could buy the incredibly expensive stuff which didn’t appeal to us at all. We were able to get some delftware for my dish collection in NC, some tulip bulbs from Holland for Mom, and something for shirts for Jeni and Tom and some chocolates from Amsterdam for the employees. I was even able to get Hanna (Little Sister) one of the stacking dolls from Russia. There just weren’t a lot of choices throughout our trip. I was surprised about that.
Back to the real world. We noticed that no one called us madam and mister when we got off the boat, people wanted us to pay for our meals and they weren’t even gourmet. We had to go to sleep in a bed that wasn’t gently rocking to the sea. This could be quite a culture shock for us.



Going home sweet home.

Copenhagen Denmark

This first photo is remarkable because the woman in purple, Evlyn, is ninety seven years old. There weren't many that could out dance her. A few times after dinner she would ask someone where they were going after dinner. I would reply, "to bed!", but she was ready to dance. Her daughter, Doris, in the blue is seventy eight. She sure has her Mother's genes, she doesn't look near that age. The man in the middle is Clarke Watkins who was also an instructor.



Alan and Kay, our hosts and instructors on the cruise AND my daughter's new in laws.




Following is our whole dance group.I sure do miss these people. How enjoyable it was getting to know them all.


Wed, June 24, 2009

Land of Hans Christian Anderson, The Little Mermaid, and Tivoli Gardens.

Denmark is located on two islands connected by two bridges.

One of the major highlights in Copenhagen is The Little Mermaid (Den Lille Havfrue), a world famous bronze sculpture that reclines on a rock on the shore. She has come to represents Denmark to many. The story goes that she is a sea king’s half-human and half-fish daughter, who must wait on her rock for 300 years before she can enter the world of humans. She’s been sitting there since 1913 so she has a while to go. In the meantime, she’s had her head cut off (this became a murder case in Denmark that was solved, head found and reattached), and lost an arm in the same way with the same results and it was reattached. Someone painted a bra on her once and on one occasion she was stolen from her perch altogether (with the use of dynamite). She had to have a lot of plastic surgery when they rescued her from the sea. The little mermaid has been through so much that Denmark decided to send her on a vacation. We were fortunate to be there when we were and see her in person because she will soon be in China so they can enjoy her beauty before her return to her homeland in a couple of years.

The most common name for all Denmark kings has been Christian and Frederick. Queen Margarette has been the Queen now since 72 but her son is the crown prince, Frederick, and he will become the next king. The Danish monarchy is the oldest unbroken one. Unbroken for 1,000 years. The official residence of the Royal Family is Amalienborg Palace. The Palace is actually four separate palaces in the heart of the city; recently the royal apartments were open to the public.

The Museum of Danish Resistance is dedicated to the resistance in 40-45 against German occupation and the Danish commitment to the Danish people to help save many Jews from becoming victims of the Holocaust.

In a couple of downtown buildings that have so many windows, they refer to the building as Blue Eyes or Green Eyes, whatever color is reflected in the windows. I’ll have to look at our buildings in Tampa and see what color eyes our glass buildings have. I know we have one old blue eyes.

There are so many fairy tales and Gods and Goddess references in Copenhagen. It gives the whole area a magical quality when you hear all the tales and the Gods attached to each monument, building, or ship.

The Kastellet military fortress is 300 years old and covers approximately 50 acres. One of its centerpieces is the Gefion Fountain, which shows a goddess commandeering four oxen. The story goes that the goddess was offered more land for Denmark by a God. She could have as much land for her country as she could plow in one night. She turned her four huge sons into oxen and began to plow land large enough to become Denmark.

It’s very expensive to live in Copenhagen. When asked the cost of condos we passed, we were told they begin at two million dollars.

We saw where Hans Christian Anderson lived and wrote.

All education in Denmark is free, even college.

We went to Tivoli Park and Gardens. This is the park that inspired Walt Disney to build Disneyland and World. It’s a very small garden and amusement park, but I can see why someone would think to build bigger and better. The laughter of children and excited voices were throughout the park. We had a very small hamburger there that cost $8.00. One fashion statement was capri’s for the men. They looked strange at first but then I thought they made perfect sense and looked good, especially next to some of the shorts we saw worn there. The people were striking. Blonde, blue-eyed children and parents were predominant. So many of the young men and boys gelled their hair for that tussled look. Copenhagen was another city where I saw very few overweight people unless they were tourist.

We noticed was more hustle and bustle of the city in Copenhagen than any other Scandinavian city we were in. Almost 40% of the transportation used in Copenhagen is bikes. This makes so much sense here, too, especially for places like NYC and big towns; I wonder why we don’t do that more.

When students graduate from high school they wear a white cap with a cranberry colored band and they wear them with pride through the summer. We saw so many of them and I think it’s a great idea.

Licorice was sold everywhere in so many forms. They had salted licorice everywhere which I didn’t like but I liked every other kind. There were kiosks set up selling nothing but licorice.

Tallinn, Estonia

Our tour guide’s name was Aino, pronounced I-know. Well, had a giddy group we were doing the old routine of “What’s the tour guide’s name”, answer, “I know.” “I know YOU know but I want to know. What’s the tour guide’s name?” I’m telling you, we were a wild and crazy bunch!

Estonia was a surprise to us because it turned out to be one of our favorite places. The people seemed happy and the scenery was beautiful. There were so many green parks, trees, flowers, lush green grass. Things I expected from a place that has so much rain.One of the strangest and ugliest trees was the horse chestnut. The fruit is poison and the tree looks like it has cancerous growths all over it. There was a beauty in that ugly tree though. I know Mom has talked about horse chestnut trees before and we have them (at least in Tennessee), but I had never seen anything like these trees.
There are 22 churches and 22 libraries in Tallinn.
We were told that they were spiritual readers.  Our guide took us to her church (Lutheran) and it has the largest display of coat of arms carved in wood in the world.
In town if there is a green and yellow flag on a building, which means it’s a meeting building. So, if you are alone or just want to talk or hang out you go to that building with a flag. She said that older people often take advantage of it because it provides them with company and conversation and just a place to go to get out of the house a while. I just love that whole concept and think we could all use meeting buildings in our cities.

Estonia used to be a part of Russia but now they are proud of the fact that they are a member of NATO and they are free. Russian KGB processing building was in Estonia where Russia’s prisoners were processed and sent to Siberia. 60,000 Estonians were deported and that left only 1/3 of the population.

We saw remnants of the wall of defense and a moat around the city of Tallinn. The moat freezes in winter and the children of Tallinn ice skate there now.

There were Russian style buildings all around and not so attractive Russian houses built but most of the houses and places we saw were quaint and charming looking. I felt like I was in a medieval set.



Soccer is huge there and they are proud of their team. Their arch rival is Sweden and they say that Estonia is the BEST team but Sweden has the most LUCK. LOL

Every five years they have a huge singing festival. This tradition sprang from their Song Revolution. In 1988 the Estonians amassed 300,000 people to a singing revolution there in Tallinn. They sang national songs and sang the songs they were not permitted to sing under Soviet Rule. That revolution was called “The Song of Estonia”. Every five years they have that huge singing festival and they were gearing up for it while we were there. The guide said that you can hear a hum over all of Estonia when the song festival begins. Aino said “we are a singing nation, going along the roads singing whatever we want to sing. We weren’t permitted to sing for so long and that is our independence celebration.” She also said they are a nation of off key singers because everyone likes to sing. When the Song Festival begins, they carry a torch on horseback and carry it to the town hall and brought to a stage for the beginning of the festival. She said when famous people loose their voices, they come to Estonia. LOL I felt honored to be at the Tallinn Song Festival Arena where that revolution took place.
Estonians retire at 63 and they want to change it to 65 or 67 but she said these people were brought up in the war and revolutions and their health is not good like the children growing up now. Sixty five is a long life when you are brought up in war and the poverty and restrictions.