It was another action packed year for the Stones’. January and February were rather quiet and uneventful. In March, the Pipe Band travelled to Boston to take part in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. We marched the six miles without much incident although the Drum Major damaged himself with the mace near the end. We had to wait about an hour before we set off and it was at that time it began to snow. Suffice to say that tropical dress is not particularly helpful, even if it is Scottish.
The day before we left Ptolemy Xavier, a ruby Cavalier King Charles Spaniel arrived from the UK. This little bundle soon took over the household and everyone in it. He is quite a jumper and quite routinely surmounts objects 3 feet high or more. The other animals have grown up, although Matthias is still quite a small cat at 10 pounds. Artemis looks big, but is mostly fluff.
At the end of April I was off again, this time to Adelaide in Australia. The Regiment band was playing in the South Australia Police Tattoo. It was a great experience and I made a few friends along the way. The travelling however was not so pleasant as it took in the region of 40-42 hours, 12 time zones, loss of a day (the 25th April 2008 did not exist for me and the 6th May happened twice). All in all it was a long way to travel for 8 days, but the experience was well worth it.
June saw another short visit to New York. This time we stayed on 55th St, the Shoreham, which was very nice indeed. We, as usual took in a few Broadway Shows including, Gypsy, Xanadu, Curtains and In the Heights, which had won the Tony award the week before. In the Heights is a very good show. We also met up with Marisa’s friends Carrie and Peter and caught up with news.
On a more sombre note, Marisa’s grandmother Lucille (‘Cille) passed away and was buried at St. John’s cemetery in June. We were very glad that we were able to spend time with her at our wedding.
The summer was hot and humid as always and the days went by one after the other. We didn’t manage to accomplish a lot over the summer, but looking forward to our next vacation was certainly a motivating force. We had two God-children born during July and August. The first, Veronica and Pete’s daughter, Emilia was born on 13th July. The second was Saffron & George’s daughter, Tayla, born in South Africa on 9th August.
In September, for our anniversary, we travelled to Italy and spent time in Rome, Florence and Venice. Rome is an interesting city, with its many ancient buildings. We toured the Coliseum and the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel during our time there. I also admit to becoming very partial to Italian cuisine. In Florence we took a cooking class, where groups of five people put together a meal and then ate it. The food was very good and it wasn’t just due to my prowess making gnocchi. We also visited the Ferregamo museum. I also spent too much time (and …….) on the Ponte Vecchio, the jewelry centre of Florence. We caught the number 2 bus to Fiesole a small town on the mountain above Florence, with spectacular views and an impressive Roman amphitheatre, which is still used today.
From Florence it was off to Venice, where we had to get used to some very different modes of transport. It feels strange getting off a train and onto a motor boat to take you to your hotel. In Venice we visited the Dome San Marco, the Doges Palace and Bridge of Sighs. The highlight for me was the trip out to the Venetian glass factories, where glass objects are blown and moulded by hand into the most intricate of patterns and designs. We also took the traditional Gondola ride through the canals.
After leaving Venice we travelled to London for a time, to take in a couple of shows (Zorro, the musical and Avenue Q). We also met Roz and Alan for dinner with Josue and Kerry. The following day we travelled down to Dover and visited Dover College. Unfortunately everyone was out on a charity walk, but I did manage to catch Mr (Rupert) Hill who gave us the ok to look around. Then we caught the train to Walmer to visit Leo Forsdyke. We sat in his living room for ages catching up and then he took us to lunch at a favourite pub, The Hare and Hounds. Unfortunately we were unable to stay as long as we had wanted as we had to get back to London for Zorro. However, I have pledged to myself to not wait another 15 years and will probably attempt a longer visit next time I am over there.
Other than as spectators we have not really been involved with much theatre this year as previously. However, we did take in the Bermuda performance of the Full Monty. It also appears that we will be involved in the pantomime which begins in early December. Also in October I received my Efficiency Medal for 12 years service in the Bermuda Regiment.
My business appears to be rolling along quite nicely and it seems as I will have enough work to get us through the current financial slump, but only time will tell.
I wish everyone a very Happy and prosperous Christmas season and wish good health and happiness for the New Year
2 comments:
You certainly had a full year and believe it or not so did Phil and I. I am sorry to hear about Ms. Cille. I hope all is well with everyone else.
My year started with a reunion cruise with my first college roommate. It was a quick visit to Cozumel in March and the fellowship was great. We declared we should take a minute to keep in touch with friends and did. In May, I went to a conference in Virginia and being so close to Washington DC I took a day before it began to visit a few sites. I was disappointed that Museum of American History was closed but I quickly walked through about 6 different museums, they were all interesting and free.
Because I am still working on my dissertation (where for those that don’t know me, is where I met Marisa) I attended 4th year residency in Phoenix instead of Atlanta. Phil went with me and we visited not only Phoenix but Montezuma Castle, Sedona (– Loved it!!), then to Flagstaff and Sunset Crater. We ended our visit at the Grand Canyon driving south through Prescott. I was amazed at the size of the Canyon.
I thought that was it but another opportunity arose and Phil and I went to San Diego. It was truly a beautiful city and the zoo was great too. San Diego was another city of museums. Besides the museum of Man, I saw the Star Trek exhibit at the museum of Air and Space while Phil went to see the airplanes on display. We also saw the Battleship Midway.
Soon we will end the year with one last vacation next week, the week before Christmas with a trip to Spain. I don’t know what we will see but we are going to southern Spain near Malaga.
Marisa I just submitted my proposal for approval. First time, I do hope it passes. I would love to start interviewing so I can write chapters 4 & 5. How are you doing? Finished?
Glad to read you both are doing well. Happy anniversary.
So good to hear from you!!!
I am just waiting for feedback from one committee member and I can then submit the proposal to ARB/IRB. I should be going out to Phoenix in March for the 4th year residency. We'll probably head to Vegas as well as Aidan hasn't been there yet!
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