A Christmas walk on Mount Royal, Montreal ... to burn some of the calories added over the last few days.

Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noel! Frohe Weihnachten! Feliz Navidad!

This year Christmas takes place at Marleyne's sisters'place in Laval, Quebec. It is a white Christmas...and the food more or less traditional ! Yesterday we had a Caribbean pork roast, we drink Rhum agricole de la Martinique, and tonight Heiner is preparing his Koenigsberger Klopsen...and as a dessert, it will be the traditional Buche de Noel....
So, we hope you all have a very nice Christmas!

Cette annee, les Fetes se passent chez ma soeur a Laval...nos traditions culinaires ont change...avec un roti de porc a la caribeenne, du rhum agricole de la Martinique, des Koenigsberger Klopsen allemands ce soir et la traditionelle buche de Noel comme dessert...Alors nos meilleurs voeux de Noel a vous tous!

Alles gute zu unseren deutschsprechenden Freunden!

Back in Kingston, Canada from Martinique ...

It is about a week ago that we were sitting in Castries, St. Lucia (due to an airline strike) on a terasse overlooking the harbour.

Today, we walked through one of our parks in our neighbourhood (Collins Bay) and enjoyed the deep frost and the surroundings.  What a change!

This is a "stitched" photo thanks to our Android application (in this case: 2 images).

When it became clear that we would not catch our American Airlines flight from St-Lucia to Canada, we had to find an accomodation near the airport.  While I waited for the Liat employee to give us some news about our flights, Heiner went to the Tourism office located in the Vigie airport and chatted with a couple - also stranded - and with the office employee. He found us a really neat guesthouse, at 5 minutes from the Vigie airport with a view of the ocean! for $59.00 US! The lady, Merlin, picked us up at the airport! What a neat place...http://www.casadelvega.com/index.htmlwe had brought food along (we now know that you get nothing on AA flights...) and we just relaxed on the terrasse chatting with Lud and Cathy and enjoying Pitons beers and rum. Life was good after all this stress...

And so ends another Caribbean sojourn...

Now that we are back in our cozy home, we can enjoy our "memories"...We had 5 days in Martinique, most of them in Ste-Anne. The weather was rather rainy and when we hiked to the beaches of the Salines, we walked in the mud for hours before reaching the beaches. What else did we do???? Oh, it was easy to spend time "liming" on Aquataurus or on land...Heiner got a fresh baguette every morning: this time I went with him and as I was about to take a picture, somebody else wished to be in the limelights...

Antoher day, we walked on the beach of Ste-Anne and found ourselves in the resort of Club Med Les Boucaniers...Très chic, merci bien. The resort is built amindst a 23 hectares park and surrounded by this magnificent coconut plantation!

On other days, we went to the little market of Ste-Anne to get fresh products or fish (announced by a fisherman blowing in a conch shell)...And on Saturday afternoon, there was this romantic creole styled wedding in the small church of Ste-Anne...

After a long and tedious wait at StLucia AA tickets office,we got onto our plane 2minutes before take off, rushing through. the airport and all security checks with Mr. Delisle from American Airlines leading us by the hand! This man has worked on our "case" for 3 hours half nonstop and while exhausted, we were very thankful for his help. LIAT airlines owes us money!
And so we are back in Canada, sitting in the hotel breakfast room and enjoying our 4th cup coffee...Just yesterday at that time we were on a street corner in Castries drinking fresh coconut water!

Pilot strike at Liat airlines delayed our flight to Toronto....we are stranded in Castries at an hotel with ocean view...will try to get flight to Toronto tomorrow.

After a quiet night in StLucia ' Anse la raie, we motored along the west coast of the island and had almost settled for anchoring in Rodney Bay due to a total lack of wind when a south westerly breeze came up and made us decide to sail the 20 some miles to Martinique! The lure of French delicious food and wine was strong and the weather great: we had a great sail up to 10 miles from Martinique when the wind stopped. It seems that the trade winds were disturbed by a strong cold front pushing far south and creating a troph with its squalls, t-storms, heavy rains and abnormal wind patterns. Whatever...we anchored in Le Marin at the end of the afternoon and Marlyne went right after the apero to Leader Price in order to buy saucisson, rillettes and cheese! We had a delicious supper!

We went back for more delicacies on the next day and sailed to Sainte-Anne in order to be in a prettier anchorage where swimming is possible.

Here in Ste-Anne, one feels like in a French village...with its backeries, cafes and rotisseries...Heiner is getting us French pain every morning from this little backery shop.

We walked across Bequia to the Atlantic side (the place is called Industry)  in order to enjoy once more times the view from Dawn's Creole resort. It is a beautiful walk on the road among flower bushes, coconut plantations and a magnificent view from the Atlantic with Balliceaux and Battowia rugged profiles in the background.

The sail through the Grenadines between Mayreau and Bequia was most relaxing but with no blue skies...November moods with blue gray waters a bit reminiscent of Lake Ontario. However, Bequia was as colourful as ever with its houses perched on the hill as well as the fishing boats on the beach, all seeming  to have been freshly painted!

We walked along the shorelines and were not so surprissed to see that the abandonned Eden resort was still there, with its huge mango trees and coconut palms!

Today's sail was to the small island Petit Tabac...on the outwards reef of the Tobago Cays. We had agreed that, if weather permits, it would be neat to anchor there..facing Africa. Well, the winds gusted up to 30 and the were several lines of squalls...ideal weather for a close reach sail in big seas. After a couple of hours of sailing, it looked like the anchorage at Petit Tabac was not so good afterall for such weather conditions,plus there were already 2 catamarans occupying most of the space. So we sailed back to Mayreau and anchored in Salines Bay for a pasta supper and a nice sunset.

Heiner is "trying out" Aquataurus engine compartment...this one is able to accomodate his whole body! The servicing of the impeller was successful!

While the sail between the island of Grenada and Carriacou is always a bit rough due to the currents around the several little islands and their underwater volcano Kick'em Jenny, we had luck this time and made it easily to Tyrrel Bay. We looked for our friends Ellen and Jim on Boldly Go but they were not there...and we left the next morning for Hillsborough (on the photos) to check out AND try to find Tonic Water. The old dilemma continues: we have lots and lots of Gin but Tonic is nowhere to be found...

Hillsborough has nice hills and more charm than Tyrrel Bay...we bought grapefruits, bananas and avocadoes!

 Today was hiking on the agenda; we managed to lure Peter away from Aquataurus and he accompanied us to the Concord Falls. The bus (direction Goyave) let us at an intersection from where we walk uphill on a paved road for at least 2 miles...it was hot and there was little wind to refresh us...We met a man on the road who told us to take it easy as there was still a long way to go...
When we finally arrived at the first fall, we were asked by the guide if we needed his services..we told him that our friend Peter was Swiss and knew how to hike mountains...The guide smiled a little incredulous. The hike to the upper falls was amazing..we walked across the small river a couple of times, jumping from boulders to boulders...and we really enjoyed bathing in the crystal clear waters of the upper falls.

 Today was a reacquaintance with Grenada StGeorges,its carenage, its roti shops, and its people. It all came back to us...what we had been missing since we left the Caribbean! On the way back from the shopping area, we also walked to the yachtclub to enjoy the views and good memories of having drinks with friends there. We felt right at home!

D-DAY ...D for Delays!That was for our departure day...delays in Kingston, delays to get to the Toronto Airport and delays of departure with Caribbean Airlines! Our flight, scheduled for 22h30 was announced to be delayed by 3 hours!!!!!!!!!!!! No need to say, we were not very happy BUT we soon found out that because we were on a connecting flight to Grenada, we were going to be put on the 22h30 flight which originally was the 16h30 flight...there was a lot of chaos at the Caribbean airlines counters and we waited in line to get "processed" but at least we were going to get to Grenada in time. The staff and employees were taken by surprise by these delays and did their best to cope...  The flight was very uncomfortable because we happen to sit in a row of seats with un-reclinable seats...for 5 hours....What a joy to disembarque this airplane. To make a long story short, we were on time in Grenada and were able to have breakfast with Peter on Aquataurus!

Grenada/Aquataurus - here we come!

Weatherforecast (wunderground.com) reads:  Grenada 29C, feels like 36C!  We love it!  Can't wait to be back again!

Fall, a nice Sunday morning walk today.

A sure sign we are heading into the winter!
La Buena Vida is on the hard again, at Kingston Marine (a shipbuilding yard, we love the staff!!!), and we are in the process of putting up the frames to support our tarp. By mid week we should be ready.

We did not manage to do much in term of sailing this year, just about 300 miles. However, we did a lot of maintenance – on the boat and on the house.

And we had – so far – some great trips this year to see our friends: to Panama, Italy, Chesapeake Bay … and guess what … we will be leaving shortly for Grenada, Caribbean, to sail on Aquataurus to Martinique. Our dear friend Peter is all by himself ! We had to help!!!! We are all excited – 3 weeks in the islands.

He also keeps a blog – sometimes: http://www.aquataurus.blogspot.com/

And who knows what next year will bring?

Did it make sense to go for a holiday while still in the middle of a drywall job? YES! It all started when a couple of weeks ago our friends Andree and Benoit mentioned their intention to go to the Annapolis boat show.  We liked the idea of going camping with them if the weather was good. And it was good: the days were sunny and warm, we biked across the Quiet River Park overlooking Harness Creek and the South River, we biked in Annapolis...it was fun to meet our friends at the campsite and to enjoy good food (merci Andree!) and good wine in their company. Plus, it was wonderful to spend the cooler evenings in their camper...The Bay enchants us more than ever, especially at this time of the year...On our way north, we stopped at Havre de Grace to visit our friend John (s/v Bluegrace) now boatless and missing her so very much! In all, this holiday was refreshing and we are full of energy to resume the housework!

 The walls are back on...we take a holiday!!!

Foam is in!!!!

The guys arrived ahead of time ... and about 3 hours later the rooms were done.  R24 insulation or better.  We will be sweating in our house this winter, not freezing!

In the afternoon, we had enough time to prepare the walls for the drywalls and mounted already a few sheets.  Looks like that we will have finished drywalling tomorrow.

And then there is mudding ....

With our visitors gone - we really enjoyed their company - it was time to take on another major house project:  Home insulation.

We knew, this house had little insolation in the walls ... we saw some in the bathroom when we redid a section of the wall there. 

But!!!!  The pictures show what we found - there was absolutely no additional insulation in these walls outside the bathroom.  The only "insulation" was the wall material and some loose fitting plastic sheeting to keep moisture (and air???) out. 

It took us two days to remove the wall boards in these 2 rooms.  We will have them spray foamed tomorrow morning.

We are sure that the new insulation will make a huge difference in comfort (and heating costs).

And yes, we will have to rebuilt all these walls and re-finish them - probably, it will take more time to do this compared than removing them ....

We had visitors from Germany: Niko, Heiner's nephew and his girlfriend Nicole came to visit for one week! We had quite a program for them: Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake, Toronto, Ottawa, and a couple of sail trips on Lake Ontario! Both proved to be excellent "seafarers"..Nicole a skilled and enthousiastic helmswoman!  They were so much fun to be with! We had a great time with you! Good luck with your busy lives!

Back In Canada,

It is now more than a month that we are back from our Italian adventure. It feels like a dream at times; it is fun and highly rewarding looking at the images and remembering the people we have met.

Upon our return, we took the opportunity of the great summer weather and went sailing to “sleep off” our jetlag. Yeah, I know, sounds tough!

But it worked great! And our “recovery” was helped by enjoying the wineries around Waupoos.

However, although refreshed and eager to go to other places …. for the next while we will hold down our travel itch. No more big travel plans … for the next few weeks …). Following our initial “recovery” we concentrated on our boat projects (redoing the deck, done now: looks marvellous) and getting the house ready for the coming winter season. We are in the step-wise process of re-insulating the outside walls by removing the inner walls, having the spaces foamed up, and rebuilding the inside again. That should keep us busy for a while?

Nico and Nicole (Germany) will be coming next week for a 7 day stay. We very much look forward seeing them and to do some explorations around our area, Toronto, Ottawa … we will see. Ok, we have some “petite” travel plans.

Enclosed, images from our last trip – this time we "had to" escape from the smell of paint in the house.

ARRIVERDERCI ITALIA

Last episode of our Italian odyssey: Lago di Bolsena.  I had forgotten to ention that we are camping since we left the Abbadia in the Marche. In Sienna, the camping site was a huge affaire with at least 1000 campers, many of them coming for several weeks at a time..In Lago di Bolsena, the small campeggio La Pineta was very quaint!Just in front of the wonderful lake, and just a stroll from the medieval town Bolsena.  That evening, we walked to the town in the evening and had a nice meal in one of the numerous patios lining the street.  I had my favorite Calamaris!

Bolsena was a stunning medieval town!

Europe's biggest volcanic lake lies at the borders of Umbria and Tuscany, a few miles north of the town of Viterbo.  Because of its strategic osition near Rome, it has a long historical tradition.  The Romans called it Lacus Volsinii, adapting the Etruscan name Velzna of the last Etruscan city to hold out against Rome. The lake is bordered on one side by updated forms of the Roman consular road Via Cassia (All the roads lead to Rome, remember!).

We could have visited numerous sites around Bolsena and probably extend our trip by...years!!!!!!!!
Arrivederci Italia!

We had breakfast in Pitigliano and strolled through its narrow alleys before the tourists busses arrive...Pitigliano is a stunning medieval town dramatically perched atop a tufa ridge. Tufa??? Tufo??? oh yes, we are in the tufo country. Tufo is a kind of porous rock of volcanic origin. uff's primary economic value is as a building material. In the ancient world, tuff's relative softness meant that it was commonly used for construction where it was available. Tuff is common in Italy, and the Romans used it for many buildings and bridges. Etruscan tombs dot the cliff face and valley and while driving, it is common to see these huge cavern entrances along the road. Pitigliano is also known as Piccola Gerusalemme, or Little Jerusalem because of archeological remains of jewish settlements of the 16th century. The parts of the ancient Jewish Quarter open to visitors includes a small museum, the restored synagogue from 1598, ritural baths, dye works, the Kosher butchering area, and bread ovens.

As for Sorana, it is a one street affair which ends at the Piazza del Pretorio with the Santa Maria Maggiore (12th-13th ) church.

The Church of San Mamiliano, may be the most ancient of the village. In recent years, during archaeological investigations, there has been found a treasure of near 500 golden coins of the 5th century AD.