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Cosi, cosi. A little of this and that.

These figurative bottles are probably in the local dress, something I will be trying to recreate for the upcoming Landmark's Center Urban Expedition 4/23 1-4 PM and for the Festival of Nations May 4-7 at the Excel Energy Center. I will try to "look Italian" though I'm not sure what province, Abruzzo or Sicilia. I think every country has the white lace blouse, vest and skirt look. I've been embroidering, by machine, with the help of Mary Langlois, Como Park's Family and Consumer Science teacher. Everything is being monogrammed with a decorative "G" that only I can recognize. I love white shirts with French cuffs. It's so much fun to find antique cuff links. I have a lot of luck at the North Oaks garage sale that raises $$$ for the Children's Hospital and the St. Odilia jewelry boutique where everything is also donated.




Looking for a place to eat along the Costa Blanca was fun. We'd check out the locale and discover delightful stores. Adding miniature bottles of alcohol to my collection was my pasttime, but I admit the "Book of Wine," with its calligraphic text was greatly admired, though not purchased. Calligraphy is the key to Donald Jackson's St. John's Bible, a major undertaking by this scribe to the Queen of England. It's taken years but is embellished with so much art, it rivals the Book of Kells. The missing Gospel of Judas is being debated tonight on the National Geographic channel. Remember, it is "his" story. Revisionist history might become "her" story. Cosi, Cosi.
Myra & Phil enjoyed the local tap and finally got all the tapas they could eat. We enjoyed the local Monday market and took the train back to Alicante.
Cappuccino, espresso, cafe with latte, tea, or whatever is so much fun, especially if you're sitting outdoors. Of course, getting served was almost impossible, as everybody else was sitting indoors. It took forever to get tapas and drinks OUTDOORS. The summer season hadn't officially started and the regulars were getting served indoors. I was beginning to doubt my language skills, even after I had dragged the waiter outdoors 3 times to show him tht we really were ready to order.

Erik, climbing Gibraltar would be no challenge to you. It is really a big limestone rock around which a ship must navigate. It is hard to ascend through a series of hairpin curves.

Costa Blanca, Alicante & Gibraltar

Gena is so sweet. She and her sister in law, Ellie, met me in Gibraltar. We were the only three who stayed in the car rather than put up with the wild monkeys who know how to open car doors and purses. We became fast friends, especially at the Gibraltar Arms Pub, where they wanted to smoke and didn't really want an English speaking, non-smoking person hanging with them. I told them I would do whatever they wanted to do. When I needed a place to store my luggage in Barcelona they were the first to suggest I could leave it with them. What kindness!

Robert Berman, USA, with 2 Brits from Somerset, England. He left the cruise early to fly to Scotland. Making him laugh was my goal.
Ellie's first words to me were "I'm from Bergen." Rain was the topic as I fought for the position by the car window so that I could open it and poke my camera lens through. We toured the St. Michael Cave's before ascending to the top of Gibraltar. The water continued dripping through the cavernous hole in the ground, making a dangerous situation even more slippery.
The Costa Blanca, the White Coast, of Alicante, goes for miles and miles. We took a train where construction along the shore was exploding. No one seemed to be in the water but everyone was by it. I met some Americans studying abroad who didn't mind sharing their football and volleyball.

Captain's Dinner on the Midnatsol

Wendell and the Blue Ridge Mountain group at the Captain's dinner. Also the Somerset English Roger and Ann Coles! Wendell completed the Berlin Marathon October, 2005, and runs up mountains in 51 minutes. He also joined a photo shoot of beautiful women.
Dinners are exquisite events every night: three chefs with tall hats artfully displaying their treasures. "Moose on mousse" was a chocolatier's delight. Many designs looked like abstract animals. In fact, the chefs pour gravies in specific patterns. Presentation is everything. I was
a nuisance because I refused to drink expensive designer water or wine and chose the free tap water. It was presented in a carafe with a bowl of ice cubes and I was warned that it was not safe to drink. Three weeks of their water did not kill me. I just wish that pasta was on their recipe list as we were in 7 Italian ports: Savona, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Napoli, Catania, Elba, & Sardegna. Those Norwegians sure like fish.
Nils Breisten, piano man extemporare, and friend Gert, enjoying dinner before he starts entertaining us in the piano lounge.
Our other vocalist & piano man in the band, No Problem, Sverre W, was intensively searched for customs when we disembarked in Lisbon. It must have been his long hair and his keyboard equipment because he was meticulously dressed in his camel cashmere long coat. Even that new rug from the Berbers in Tangier, Morocco, was under scrutiny.
The other No Problem band member, Jan Heidenstrom with wife, Jannicke, dress for dinner.
Our saxophone player, Jan Harald Sjue and his wife, Lisbeth Sjue, dress for Captain's dinner.
Donna, Valia and our Swiss sister who nursed me through sea sickness. She was very sea worthy as she and her husband sailed their own ship on the Mediterranean for many years.
Here she and her Norwegian sister meet Captain Herodd Widding and tell him that their father was a captain, also.
Six of the eleven English speaking passengers on the Midnatsol include Myra & Phil Toconita, Roseville, MN, Roger and his wife, USA, and Mary & Trevor Starr, Crewkerk, England. We celebrated Phil's birthday which means a singing parade of chefs & staff with Norwegian flags, sparklers and dessert.