May 8th 2011

Hallo again – this time from England. Had problems with Blogspot right from the beginning, so now my most obliging web designer is posting for me. Thank you Robert!

The first thing I want to say is that I might be delayed another week before returning –my mother had what amounts to a mini-stroke behind her “good” eye, a few days before we arrived. She has lost much of her vision, so there are hospital and doctor’s appointments, treatment plans (if any are possible) to be followed up - and then there are decisions to be made around whether she can still manage to stay in her own home.

I will continue to update via this blog – and on my voicemail. At the moment, I am still scheduled to return on May 14th.

Well! The cruise was AMAZING – we loved every minute of it, especially the 7 days at sea to begin. It allowed us to rest, find our way around the ship (Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam, just voted the most beautiful ship in the world!) and to begin meeting fellow passengers. I can’t even talk about the food – EVERYONE knows about the food. (I did once text our children that their father had just eaten 4 dinners that night…)

Our first port of call was Funchal, Madeira – we had to be tendered in as there were already 2 other cruise ships in dock, so that was a novel (and easy) experience. The old town was quite lovely – full of tiny streets and interesting buildings. We visited the famous flower market – a delight for the eyes – took a cable car up to the top of the local “mountain” and watched people being transported back down in huge wicker baskets on skis – with 2 men standing on the back of the skis acting as brake men. Rumour had it, it was best to check the amount of rubber left on their shoes before taking a ride. We didn’t go…

Back in the old town again, we found a small restaurant with tables outside in a shady spot – and as Madeira belongs to Portugal, famous for sardines and port, we ordered grilled sardines - and a pint of beer!

More later.