Adios mi amigo Guido

Guido[/caption

We all knew that it had to happen.
For many months the decision has been pushed away..
Nobody likes to take a life especially that of a beloved animal..
but the time came today when we had no choice.

Dr Dean, the vet came this afternoon and after an examination he said that it was not only old age but also the nerves in the spine had been affected and that there was nothing that could be done. So after an injection to calm Guido down and when he was nearly asleep he had another injection to stop his heart.

I am not sure just how old Guido was. The earliest record of his date of birth is the Veterinary Passport book which gives 1998 as his birth year but nobody knows how long he was a Bulgarian street dog before he was taken in by Sofia Animal Rescue. So he could have been a few years older that the 15/16 years that we estimated.

My first contact with Guido was about 5 years ago when Sofia Animal rescue asked for volunteers to take care of a dog whilst the kennels in Sofia were being refurbished. I spotted it on the web site and was interested immediately. I chose Guido simply because he was old and completely deaf. Who would want an old deaf dog when there were cuter ones to choose from..ME!

So he came to us on three months ‘loan’. However when the three months were up and the Rescue Centre asked for him back..I asked if he could stay. It did not seem fair that he should return to live in a kennel with no chance of adoption..at that time we thought he only had a year or two to go.

I guess we looked after him too well because 5 years later he was still here….He was like an old man …smelly and cantankerous, but we all loved him and we are sad to see him depart from this world and from us.

I can honestly say , from the bottom of my heart , that those years looking after and being with Guido have been very rewarding.

May you rest in peace dear friend…I love you!

Hong Kong

This was next on the visiting list..
We had been at sea throughout the night and arrived about 7.30 am…For the people and officials of Hong Kong it was a special day . The old airport runway which was so dangerous had been converted into a large new up-to-date port and although ships had docked there before , The Mariner of the Seas was by far the largest..so it was something of an occassion. There were many grinning officials strutting around like peacocks in full bloom.

Once we had had our passport attached to a special ticket we were allowed to disembark where 20 + coaches were waiting to transport the visitors to various places

We had chosen the Hong Kong by Night tour as to have missed such a spectacular sight would have been stupid.
Although we might have missed the shopping malls, to me it was better to see the beautiful lights of Hong Kong…never mind about shopping!

Hong Kong is more than just a shopping mecca. Its bustling harbour, towering skyscrapers and row upon row of shops maybe its most familiar image but Buddhist monasteries, terraced rice fields and 17th century walled village are equally important to its identity
it is an island located just off the southeast coast of China, just to the south of the Tropic of Cancer. Hong Kong however is not tropical. Summers are hot and humid and winters quite cold.
The population of Hong Kong is about 7 million people.
At one time it was under British rule but reverted to Chinese rule at midnight 30 June 1997.

One thing that is most important..Hong Kong may be under Chinese rule but the people of Hong Kong are Hongkonglese..they are not at all happy being called Chinese….

We went up to The Peak, one of the highest points from which to view the city. We crowded onto a small tram/train and held tight whilst it chugged its way up and up until we arrived at the top. The view was spectacular and I am sorry to say that even though I took some photos they did not do justice to what lay below…is was mesmerizing.

After this visit we descended by way of a road which was only a very short distance. I suppose they think that the tram/train is a good tourist attraction but for such a short walk it did seem weird.
Then we drove to the harbour to see the lights reflected into the water… really beautiful.

Maybe we should have seen Hong Kong by day but I think that as far as I can see Hong Kong becomes alive after dark and it was a visit I shall long remember

Mariner of the Seas

It,s great to be able to tell you about all the wonderful places that we visited but I think that it is also important to mention about our temporary home on the Mariner of the Seas.

What a superb ship ! This was our first ever cruise so we were more than impressed.
It is one of five of the Voyager Class ships that belong to the Royal Caribbean International and it cost $650 million to build many years ago.

It is 138279 tonnes and can carry 3114 passengers as well as 1185 crew.
It is 311 mtrs in length and 39 mtrs in width… It has 14 decks and looks like a majestic lady just waiting to float away into paradise…She has a maximum speed of 24 knots…

Okay..that is the figures dealt with…now let me tell you what it was like…can you get better than a 5 star hotel…if so then this was it!
Our stateroom 6312 was absolutely spotless..It had a shower and a balcony and for us it was 10 days of sheer bliss.
Our Stateroom Attendant was Sudiasa Inyoman…a fantastic guy , who was so attentive and nothing was too much trouble. He was always around when you needed him with a lovely smiley face and he was very crafted in making animals out of bathroom towels..sort of like macrami but with towels…
Every day our room was cleaned twice…and every crinkle of the beautiful silky bedlinen was erased even after our afternoon nap..everything was perfect.

Our restaurant was Top Hat and Tails and we sat on a table with 3 other couples. Our waiters were Bernardo and Miarsh.
The menu, the food , the service , the quality and the quantity were absolutely fantastic. Never in all my years would I have ever believed that I could enjoy my food so much. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner were each an experience of a lifetime…day after day for 10 whole days.

Somebody did mention to me recently that they thought that cruising was too restrictive..being shut on a boat for hours at a time and no chance to get off. Well, I can only say that during those 10 days we were never bored. There is always something to do and something going on somewhere..even late into the night.

The entertainment in various bars and theatres was inspiring and good. there were a couple of nights when we left the theatre early but on the whole it was good entertaining all round stuff.

I think that I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say that this was one of the best holidays that I have ever had in my whole 74 years..so much so… I have already booked next years cruise when we shall be going to Norway, Denmark, Estonia and best of all St Peterburg in Russia.

If I were ever to make a ‘bucket list’ ( you know what I mean..a must do before you pass away from this life) then going to St Petersburg would be on the top of my list. So here I am ..time gets shorter with each passing year and so I am making sure that my list gets shorter so I am doing all the things that I could never do before.

Vietnam…our first stop

After sailing for 36 hours we arrived at our first port of call…
Ho Chi Minh City…This is the pulse of Vietnam.
From the port of Phu My to the modern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City there is a moment of serenity that all visitors experience.
The rural countryside with its rice paddies and rubber plantations. This is a stark contrast to the streets of Saigon, as it used to be called, and still sometimes is. There you will find throngs of motorcyclists and slick skyscrapers.
Ho Chi Minh is a very busy hectic place. It is a world of ancient pagodas and former GI homes. Of old street markets selling everything from chillies. spices and French baguettes and high -end boutiques. In each neighbourhood there are several museums, beautiful cultivated gardens and cultural sites depicting the modern history of Ho Chi Minh.
It is a wonderful mish-mash of different cultures and although it could be a lot cleaner( in that the rubbish dumped along the roadside is never removed )it was still an exciting place to be.
We looked on in horror and disbelief at the amount of motor scooters on the roads. Very few people were walking anywhere and the absence of cars was noticable…yet .. there was no way to ignore the motor scooters….
…hundreds and hundreds..all going this way and that. Some with children poked in between adults,even tiny babies, also some bikes some carrying shopping bags full to the brim. We saw one man with about 10x 2 meter plastic drainpipe poles attached to himself.
Yet not one crash helmet was to be seen.
It was difficult not to hold your breath and close your eyes when watching them weave in and out of buses and other traffic.
If there was no room on the road they simply drove up on the pavement, avoiding any people or obstacles. If they needed to get to the other side of the road..just drive over the zebra crossing.. It was amazing.
We visited a temple which must have been the only one as it was so crowded with foreigners that it was impossible to enter and it was so hot. Neville ventured inside but I waited out in the shade.
We were then taken to a puppet water display…disappointed..is not quite the right word..it was pathetic but at least my feet got to have a rest….
There was a visit to Headquarters of the Allied Forces..again Neville went …but by this time I was fed up of getting on and off the coach to go to see something which to me was totally boring. I sat under a shady tree and had an animated conversation with some Vietnamese children.
Finally it was time to return to the ship…next port was Hong Kong.

Two Days in Singapore

width=”300″ height=”117″ class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-172″ />I can assure you that having travelled 16 hours flying time and waited around at airports for hours and hours…it was wonderful to actually arrive at our first destination. Two nights in Singapore.
We stayed at The Copthorne Waterfront Hotel which to me was a definite 5* hotel, absolutely super!
As tired as we were, well I was anyway, I could not resist going to look at the skyline of Singapore..
it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It was so clean and I felt even sure that the soil in the gardens had been graded and levelled..it was really beautiful and was a pleasure to visit there.
The rooms were bright , clean and very comfortable.
The following day we went for a cruise on the river and saw all the highlights of Singapore but what impressed me most was the height of the masses of tall, very tall building. They look as though one puff of wind would send them all falling like dominoes

We were on the 12th floor and looking below we could see the river..I do not know that name of the river but it was regularly cleaned two or three times a day by a boat running up and down sucking up any rubbish dropped accidentally into the water.

One day , when I have lots of money, never, never…I would like to return to Singapore. It is not cheap for living but it is spectacular!

The next day we embarked for Hong kong…but that is tomorrow’s tale

Still Alive !!

Yes, believe it or not I am still alive…I have no excuse for not doing my posts but it has been one of those things that ‘you put off till tomorrow’ and of course tomorrow never comes.
To begin ..I could not find my WordPress site…I could find God’s Creatures but not the ‘working bit’. So I had to ask TillyB…always do this when I get in a pickle.
Then I suddenly had a brain wave and discovered it was all still there..I just was not looking in the right place..Dumbhead!

I have much to tell you but I cannot do it all at once…so now that I have found myself again …I shall eventually get around to it…

I shall begin by telling you that we had a really grand holiday…I enjoyed it so much that I have already booked another cruise for next June.
We started out from Veliko Tarnovo for the three-hour journey to Sofia. Here we stayed overnight at a good ,cheap hotel and then the next morning we were off to Gatwick.
Once we had arrived in Gatwick we had another overnight stay at Gatwick Central Travelodge, very good , clean and good value.
On the 5th June we boarded an Emarites flight to Dubai which took 8 hours and then another 8 hour flight to Singapore.
By the time we had arrived ….the time zones had changed over and over again and we were both very worn out. We seemed to have lost a day somewhere so it seemed reasonable to go to bed and wake up to start the day again.

The actual booking was made through Planet Cruise / Freedom Travel.and .. Sorry to say that I would not be able to recommend them as a reliable agency. If we had any queries, which we did, they were always engaged via the phone and even an email was to take ages to reply as they were always busy. We constantly had to keep trying , especially when our tickets had not arrived before we left Bulgaria. Sometimes the post delivery here is very slow and can take weeks , other times it is like the speed of lightning but getting our tickets was horrendous. Eventually they were posted to Neville’s daughter in Horley so we were able to collect them the day before we were to fly…..So beware people who you chose to do business with and do not always believe what you see and hear on TV Travel programmes.

Anyway , this is all for the moment, I shall be here again tomorrow and tell you about our stay in Singapore

love to all