Late summer heat, and cruise part 3 !!

Hello Friends,

What a beautiful week we have had here, the sun has shone and the heat has built up and up...a real Indian Summer...I hear that it is soon to come to an end early next week so we are making the most of it until is does. Tonight I have all the doors and windows open to catch any breeze that might float past..It is getting quite dark now and I don;t want to switch on the lights as I am sure they generate more heat. On Wednesday Mary and I went to the Courts Gardens I have previously told you about only to find they closed on a Wednesday however on the gate was an invitation to go to another garden and house called Chalfont Manor. I am so pleased that we went, again it is only about 10 miles away and I had never even heard of it !! The Manor dates way back to the early 1400's and has hardly changed throughout the years..the gardens are lovely and there is even a moat surrounding it all..It is still a “lived in house” and only open certain days in the week by the National Trust. I was chatting to the lady of the house in the garden she was picking something up on the lawn and I thought it might be chestnuts (although I hadn't seen chestnut trees so I was being a bit daft.....nothing changes LOL) anyway what she was picking up were lovely walnuts I can't remember ever seeing anyone pick walnuts.. There were beautiful herbaceous borders full of lovely autumn coloured flowers. It was a truly lovely day out. Yesterday I had an appointment for an eye test so had to be in Bath quite early we left at 8.40 for a usual 20/25 min journey.....well the traffic was awful an dit took almost an hour to get in and parked. When I did I left Mary to walk herslef slowly down town and I took to my heals...metaphorically speaking....wheelchair at top speed...to make my appointed time...I got there...just....Turns out I needed new prescription and I have a small cataract developing, hopefully it will take a long time before I need to have it seen to...I will collect the new lenses in about 10 days..

Now back to cruise mode :

After Florence our next port stop was Citivechia this is where most people got off to go on to Rome by coach a two hour journey in Rome the heat had been terrific and they mostly came back exhausted so we were glad we had not gone.anyway  we had heard that it was not really suitable for wheelchair so once the rush to get away was over we slowly left the ship and had a lovely morning in the town. The streets were rather steep//to say the least ! But as usual I found a way around and we had a lovely time just mainly window shopping. There seemed to be an abundance of gorgeous bridal wear shops...and of course coffee shops... Next day was Ajaccio on the Island of Corsica. Here we had booked a coach trip and very nice it was. Renowned as the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, Ajaccio's many squares and streets pay homage to the conqueror. We went inland and up into the mountains it was very beautiful ad we had an excellent guide who gave us so many facts and figures that I would have to have had an encyclopedic memory to remember even a 10th if the info she gave us...Suffice to say that I enjoyed the visit very very much and would like to go again some day...13th Sept was Pam's 70th birthday and we had decided we would not stray far from the ship ( I had arranged various surprises for her) but we did get off for a short walk into Seville Spain. It was an easy flat walk but I think Pam and Henry were a bit tired so after a while we left them behind to go back on baord and Mary and I walked a bit further into the town which if we had had longer to explore I think would have been a very interesting town. ...but.....birthday lunch called and we were soon back on board to visit Pam and Henry in their cabin. I had arranged for it to be all decorated and it was such a surprise for Pam. Their room attendant had done it beautifully with streamers and paper bells, etc etc and Happy Birthday Banner on the door... After lunch Pam decided to go for her one and only swim (she thinks she is overweight and didn't like to be seen in a swimsuit) It was great fun sitting by the pool encouraging her to stay in the water she also enjoyed it very much !! That evevning at dinner there was even more celebrating Henry had kept her present till evening and gave it to her at dinner it was a beautiful diamond ring...she was needless to say thrilled...even though it was a wee bit big and she has had to take it to be made smaller since we got home....at the end of the meal all the waiters around arrived with the cake we had ordered and sang Happy Birthday to her....what fun it was...To end the evening we all went to the Theatre to be entertained by a piano player called Bobby Crush who was way back in the early 60's a British “star” he was still very very good and we had a lovely end to the birthday day .....

Only 4 more days of the cruise to go before you can all relax and imagine you have travelled with us !!!! If you are not bored out of your minds by now.....

Good Night Friends.......... Love One Another....