Peter's Swim

After a rather late night over at Mike and Roz' we were up early to cheer Peter on in his charity swim. It started off a gorgeous morning, but unfortunately the humidity crept in and we were all puddles of sweat, wishing we had brought our bathing suits and joined Peter in the water if not in the long swim. It took him an hour and a couple of minutes to swim around the shipwreck with Linda and the sailing club's safety boat in attendance. Well done Peter.

Formal Family Shots - Adam & Natalie's Wedding

Due to popular demand - yes you Hilary - I am posting these formal family shots from Adam and Natalie's wedding - as if you hadn't seen enough wedding pictures by now. Did I mention that it was the best wedding ever?!

Love,

Laurel

Cannes, Monaco & Italy!

Continued . . .

We woke up Sunday to blue skies and 26C. After the usual wonderful breakfast, Dale, Susan and I headed off to Monaco. The drive along the coast was gorgeous. We wound in and around all the little towns along the way and saw some spectacular scenery. We really lucked out in our timing as we arrived at the Palace at 11:50 and got to watch the changing of the guards. It was very similar to most changing of the guards, but the crowds were all straining to see, as did we. Afterwards we took a tour of the Palace, which is still occupied by one of the Princesses, so we were unable to view every area.

We had a lovely lunch down one of the many narrow side streets of the palace grounds then walked through the Saint Nicholas Cathedral. We also took many pictures of the marinas and the buildings on the surrounding mountains. It is a very beautiful city/country.

Then, just to show it could be done, we drove to Italy! We ended up in the small mountain village of Airole, but the only coffee shop we could find was completely full with locals. Back to the beach and the tourist areas to find something open and to watch the huge waves.

After freshening up we met Jeff and Susan and went back to the Cresci for more mussels, pizza and pasta. Tough life.

Monday morning we met with both crews for breakfast at our hotel. Dale and I then did a long walk on the beach then met up again with Jeff and Susan for lunch at the Palm Square Restaurant. We then wandered around Cannes for a couple of hours before heading back to the hotel for a rest. For dinner we all met at a quaint little place called the Gavroche. What a treat. Dale had Steak au Poivre and I had Scallops with Avocado sauce. Everyone's meal was superb. A couple of a bottles of wine later we even managed dessert. Dale and I shared a fantastic Creme Brule - one of the finest meals ever. To top off the evening, Poland hosted a fireworks display to knock your socks off. It was supposed to be on Sunday, but was postponed due to the wind I mentioned earlier. Apparently several countries compete in a fireworks competition and we just happened to be there for the final entry. What a lovely evening!

My last day started as usual, meeting up with the crews for another wonderful breakfast. Today though, I had todo some important errands. I had to find the right coffee for my machine at home! I was lucky and found what I wanted plus a few extras not on my list, so all was well. Dale and I then had our usual long walk on the beach before finding a cute little place for lunch called The Melting Pot. A nap, shower and packing used up the rest of our time before meeting up with Jeff, David and Susan on the roof terrace of our hotel. Jeff treated for drinks and we all enjoyed the weather and the scenery.

The Barbarella was Jeff's choice for dinner and it was a very good choice indeed. We ate far too much as the food was so good. Our starter was warm tiger prawn spring rolls. Dale then had roast lamb and I had stuffed Quail with a couple of Pate de Foie Gras on toast. I even had some of the wine it was so good - Saint Emilion Chateau Bellerose Figeac, Grand Cru 2006 - how's that for a name? There were far too many choices for dessert, but we all managed very well.

Wednesday morning I was wondering at my sanity in having such a late night as I was up at 4am for my flights back to Cyprus. Oh well, you only live once and I had to fit everything in that I could!

Ttys, Love,

Laurel

Info on Barbarella Restaurant -

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.barbarellarestaurant.fr/pages/index.php&ei=4D9tTMlp6o3iBt-p7OUK&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CEUQ7gEwCA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dbarbarella%2Brestaurant%2Bcannes%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3Dm

Info on the Palace in Monaco -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince's_Palace_of_Monaco

Pictures of Monaco -

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=&q=palace+monaco&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=C0NtTPO5Ht6I4ga4wuz-Cg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=12&ved=0CGMQsAQwCw&biw=1222&bih=684

Cathedral -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas_Cathedral,_Monaco

Cannes

Thursday was a write off. The first flight from Larnaca to Amsterdam was just over four hours and the second flight to Nice was just under two hours, so that wasn't too onerous; but the six hours between added to the drive to Larnaca, the check in etc. and the drive to Cannes, all added up to a very long day. Was it worth it? Absolutely! I may have mentioned the intense humidity in Cyprus over the last couple of weeks. Well at first I thought that I would be meeting Dale in Cairo and even that seemed like a break; but this was definitely better. At least here the humidity is in the form of thunderstorms that pass, so you grab an umbrella and expect to get wet. In Cyprus you can take a towel with you and never be able to dry off.
So Cannes won by a landslide. Dale has been a bit busier than expected as his airplane had a glitch that he and Yves have had to work on, but we have still had plenty of time to walk the beautiful beaches, swim and take in the fabulous sights and sounds that is Cannes. Last night we went to the Cresci Restaurant that I remembered from before and again indulged in one of their specialties - mussels, or the Moules Mariniere that they are famous for. Thank heavens that the memory works when it is really important. Who needs to remember appointments as long as one remembers where to get the best Moules Mariniere!

After dinner we walked around the marina as Dale loves looking at all the boats, or I guess I should say yachts; and there were some spectacular ones. There was one in particular that obviously had a party going on in full swing and people on the dock were hanging around just watching the comings and goings. Talk about being a fish in a fishbowl.

We kept going along the seawall and got a great view of Cannes all lit up. There was a rock concert going on - sorry I forgot who was playing, but it was loud enough to make me glad that I wasn't inside! And out in the square in front was a large crowd that we joined for a bit to watch some excellent street dancers. All in all, a very entertaining evening. And when we walked back to our hotel - 1835 - The White Palm Hotel - the line-up at the Cresci Restaurant was even longer than when we were there. Everything was still hopping when we turned in.

Saturday morning Dale and Yves went back to the airport to meet the mechanic that came out from Zurich. It was a good day to stay in as the heavens opened accompanied by lots of thunder and lightening. Dale came back to take me for lunch, then I went back with him as they finished up at the airplane for the day. By around 8pm the rain had stopped, so we went out for crepes and ice cream since we had had such a late lunch. Yum.

To be continued . . .

Kourion walk

Sorry - no photos from Michael Flatley's 'Lord of the Dance'. But what a spectacular performance. I had only ever seen it on TV so was delighted to see it in person in Lemesos. The coach also stopped at the Carob Mill restaurant for a wonderful dinner beforehand. What a great evening out!

Today I went for a walk in the Kourion area with Linda, Geoff, Doris, David, Jenny and Helen, followed by lunch at one of the beach tavernas you can see in the photos. What a fantastic island for walks. Everywhere is so diverse and scenic in its own way. The first picture is of some Ptolemaic tombs and later on we passed several Roman tombs cut into the rock along the path. I didn't take a picture of these as we see so many of them everywhere. The last picture is of a geo-cache that Geoff showed us. If you are interested, the following is a site for some Cypriot history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cyprus

The Duke of Lancaster Regimental Band

One of the advantages of being in an ex-British colony is that they send over their bands on a regular basis for some practise and R&R. While they are here they do fund raising concerts for a reasonable entrance fee. One of our favourite venues is the amphitheatre in Pissouri. We shared a picnic with friends and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.