Kudos to Princess

Four years ago I was able to take a 16-day cruise to Rome....definitely a great experience. During that cruise, Princess Cruise Lines offered a program relating to a future cruise. For a deposit of $100 a passenger had four years to utilize the benefits of this program. I was enjoying the cruise so I could easily envision another one in the future. So I paid the deposit. Frankly, I don't remember the specifics of the program and I, unfortunately, was not able to take advantage of the offer made. Last year, I came across the paperwork, which I barely read, and remembered the deposit. My mental response was "Oh, well....my loss."

This past Friday, I received a refund check for $100 in the mail from Princess Cruise Lines. What an honest company. In today's day and age, this is unbelievable, but it happened. A refund from four years ago.

In the future, I want to take a cruise through the Panama Canal. I've always been interested in how things work and I would like the experience of going through the locks. A former co-worker was organizing a cruise to the Panama Canal some years ago. At that time, I could not even conceive of making a reservation in January for an August vacation. He extolled the views of the sunrise at the canal. My interest was piqued but to plan a trip eight months down the road was beyond me. I really had no understanding of what a cruise entailed.

When I took the Rome cruise I made arrangements for the trip two months before embarking. Spending 16 days on the water, walking the track early every morning, seeing the sun rise, enjoying an early breakfast in the lovely sea air, being catered to at every meal and graciously served by every Princess employee was certainly an awakening for me. My days ended viewing the beautiful sunsets followed by "Broadway" type entertainment. It would have been so easy for me take a world cruise.

Even though I have cruised since then on another cruise line, when I do go to through the Panama Canal, it will be with Princess Cruise Lines. Kudos to you, Princess.

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Donald Trump:

I just learned that "The Donald" is not running for President of the United States in 2012. I'm sooooo disappointed.

The United States is the greatest country on Earth. People are clamoring, as well as sneaking, to get in. Twenty years ago, I worked with Europeans sent here by their employer for a two-year assignment. They told me that they were amazed that they could travel great distances within the country with such freedom. Today we are allowing other's actions to dictate our lives. We practically have to be stripped in order to board a commercial airplane. We are in danger of losing the very freedoms our ancesters protected, the very freedoms we so cherish. We seem to have a number of weaklings in Congress who do not adhere to the Constitution. They can't take the time to go after fraud in Medicare, yet they will not accept for themselves the health insurance the "regular folk" have.

For the Office of President, we need someone who is not afraid to speak and really stands for our Country. I believed that Donald Trump could be that person. I believed that he would bring common sense to Washington and command respect from other Countries.

Dear Mr. Trump, I'm sooooo disappointed.


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Our Lady of Fatima Shrine

Today, May 13 is the anniversary of the Apparition of Our Lady at Fatima in Portugal in 1917.


When I visited this Shrine, I found it to be a very peaceful place. The atmosphere was hard to put into words, yet it was almost tangible to me as though I could reach out to touch it. The only way I can describe it is "pure grace."



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Walking around Downtown San Diego

Today, I went to Downtown San Diego and just walked around. On Mother's Day, my daughter had to run an errand which took us down to the more residential area below Broadway. When I saw the area, it brought back memories of walking through these neighborhoods probably ten years ago.

So, today I decided to go back for a quiet walk and take some pictures. First I walked down Fourth Avenue through the Gaslight area (mostly restaurants) from Broadway to the Convention Center by San Diego Bay. The fabricated sails, which are built into the roof, compliment the nautical flavor of the City.




I rounded the hotels to the back to the Embarcadero. Usually there are many yachts moored behind the Marriott. I've been told that often these yachts are owned by famous people. The whole area is beautiful and inviting.

The weather was just right and the sky, an azure blue. So, I continued walking around taking pictures of anything that interested me, like the passing sailboats. As I left the Embarcadero passing Seaport Village (picture below right), I saw a very talented man building sculptures from the rocks on the edge of the Bay. I walked on past the USS Midway Museum, making a mental note to schedule a tour. Perhaps my grandson would like to go when he visits.

I ended my delightful afternoon by boarding the trolley at the Sante Fe Station.







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