We got a pair of kayaks recently, and today we made it out on to the water for the first time.
Cookie flowers for the top of the cake
Karis's birthday cake.
Hillside cemetery in Barcelona
Category 9 stateroom on the Disney Magic
"No, it's not time to go home yet."
Barcelona, Spain
One last thing: Always be on the lookout for snakes on a cruise ship.
Today we left for our whirlwind tour of the Mediterranean! This is our first trip across the pond, and fortunately for us, we booked an outbound flight operated by Air France. From Atlanta to Paris, we were served a decent dinner shortly after takeoff around 5pm:
Salmon & couscous salad
Chicken & mushrooms with cream sauce, rice & vegetables
Baguette
Rice pudding
Cheese
Orange cranberry cake
It’s nothing too fancy; we were flying coach (err, “Tempo” class), but it was at least as good as any frozen meal at home. Afterwards, they basically left everyone alone for the night. About an hour and a half before landing in Paris, a light breakfast was served.
In Paris, we ran in to a small predicament, which made us very glad I had booked our flights so that there was one more flight after ours that would get us to the port on time: Apparently there was some kind of security incident right before we arrived, and at CDG, they shut down the incoming passport control station when that happens. As a result, the 400 of us who just came off our plane were stuck in a queue waiting for immigration to open up again. Fortunately, some of the French speakers in line started asking quesions of the airport employees tending the area and complaining about possibly missing connections. After the English speakers got in on the commotion, the supervisor-looking woman announced that anyone who wanted to could follow her on a 20-minute fast walk around to the terminal where our connections were. One big hussle later, against the flow of the directional signs, our agitated mob of 50 or so passengers arrived at a different, working immigration checkpoint. We made it to our gate just in time — we were the last ones on the plane.
This is some of the handiwork of the big arctic system that went through yesterday.
We scheduled a trip to Disney World this week, so we finally have a chance to see all the Christmas decorations in person. The crowds aren’t bad, but I think the staff is not at their best. I suppose that outside of summer, there must not be a lot of competition for Disney to choose from.
There was a pretty good lightning storm going on offshore tonight. Melissa’s shoulders had to make do as a tripod for getting any good shots of it.
According to one of our tour guides, most of the Yucatan peninsula is a giant slab of limestone(?), with only a few inches of actual dirt. What looks like lush forest from the airplane flying in is really this short, dense mangrove. This picture is from Isle Mujeres, off the coast of Cancún.
Tonight’s circus show at the Cancún Palace included a great performance by this little girl. The skit began with a clown trying to make two stuffed elephants walk. The ringmaster gave him a key to wind up the elephants, which didn’t work on the first one. He used a string as a leash to “walk” the first elephant. Then the ringmaster tried the key on the second elephant, and it started following the clown around the stage. Surprise! It’s a toy poodle in an elephant costume.
It was interesting to see a circus put on with no words — since the audience here is a mix of people who speak different languages, all of the evening shows were designed without any spoken words.
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