Post-Holiday Mode

Seem to have been a bit lax in completing the holiday blog, but hey there is always next year to have a better go. This past week celebrated birthday and wedding anniversary, both in a low-key way which is the way I like it. Have had several goes at baking a cake but each time the eggs and butter go back in the frig. Today I ground the hazelnuts so that is an advance.
Spent the long weekend, Labour Weekend, at Waiheke which was very pleasant after having it let for 3 months while we were away. Walked to the market and stocked up on local spepcialities like Maureen's picallili and a delicious herb spread from another stall. Celebrated the birthday with a restaurant meal at Bowlers across the road.
Have been catching up with friends in Ponsonby, usually for lunch and a browse in the shops along Ponsonby Rd. Bought myself a filmy black and floral jacket/blouse which I will be wearing over summer and also a nice recipe book full of old-fashioned reccipes from yesteryear which I am looking forward to trying out, once I have restocked the pantry.

Today after our gym class our YMCA social club paid a visit to the synagogue across the road and had a guided tour organized by one of our members. It was interesting to hear about their festivals and the stories behind them.

Later Dieter and I went up to an art gallery and looked at some before and after reunification photographs of Berlin and other East Germany cities. It reminded us of when we lived in Germany in the late 60s-early 70s and went to some of these citiies on our travels.

Elisabeth did this public art in nearby Cox's Bay.

France

On the next day to La Rochelle which was some distance from town so we opted for a tour to the Ile de Re, Island of Light instead. It is a very low lying small island with 5 or 6 villages and earns its money from tourism (never got to the beach which was the main reason I wanted to go on the tour there) and sea salt production. Didn't buy any as it was too dear and too heavy. And to me, salt is salt. We did walk up winding streets with lots of souvenir shops to an old church where there was a lovely view of the island. In the little village of Ars there was a statue of the Cure of Ars in the church. Somehow I think he came from another place with the same name. There wasa lovely little marina lined with cafes where you could buy icecream and waffles. Back to the Azamara to be serenaded by old French sea shanties by a group of locals dressed up for the occasion.

On to Bordeaux up the river with its old bridges and buildings. It was Sunday and there was not much doing apart from a farmers market near where the ship was anchored. We had a glass of bordeaux there in the afternoon, not quite the drink of choice for a sweltering day. The locals were out as there was some sort of festival on with dancing of the tango and group variety. We did a couple of long walks of about 3 hours each so was pleased to get back on board again.

Cruisey Pics - Rouen

Our stateroom was on the main deck very handy to the main reception area, big enough andwith plenty of storage. Our butler turned out to be a glorified steward in a suit, pleasant enough. He organized my early morning cup of tea to be brought to the cabin by room service.

We sailed off into the night and traversed the canal linking the Baltic and North seas from Kiel to Hamburg. It was idyllic with a lot of birdlife, lush green landscape and tidy brick houses with their gardens facing the canal. Most cruise ships are too big to get through the canal and ours was not so people waved, stopped their cars to take photos of the ship.

On to Amsterdam (bikes everywhere) the next day where we spent the morning in the Van Gogh museum - mindboggling with its great variety of paintings on display and other exhibitions of works by his contemporaries and documentation on one of his patrons.

From there a day at sea then on to Rouen where we visited the cathedral which Monet painted so many times. Sought out the art gallery and took the photo (permitted) and looked at several others of his paintings. Rouen had narrow streets of beautifully painted old houses right in the centre, a famous gateway with a very old clock, a very new Joan of Arc church with amazing architecture inside and out. Dieter took lots of ordinary photos as he lost his digital camera a few weeks before we left, so it is all (still) only in "my mind's eye"

Copenhagen