grandmaR

I emailed Duke 6 days ago and have received no reply. Any other email addresses (Colin, dtc) I can get to move in to another operator?

Duke gets his email through his wife who is the Harbor Master in St. George. So he doesn't always reply right away. But he got back to me more quickly than Colin did.

I have another question regarding hiring a private taxi to run us around the island.

 

If we do end up using the taxi, we'd like to just use it for some sightseeing. We don't want to use it for "beach time" or "lunch time" or "attractions" We'll use the bus or ferry for those.

 

I think I read somewhere that renting the taxi is a 3hr minimum. Just wondering how much "sightseeing" we can fit in during that time. We're not looking to "do" much during this tour but more like seeing the island.

 

Any thoughts?

We have seen a lot of the island by bus and ferry. If you haven't been there before, that would be the first step. Take the ferry to Hamilton and then take the bus out to St. George, go out to St. David, and come back to Hamilton.

There are some attractions and lunch places that aren't easily accessible by bus or ferry (such as the Botanical Garden, and Verdmont).

We had a car and driver and saw things that we had not known were there even though we have been to Bermuda multiple times. It also depends on the traffic. From one end to the other is about 21 miles, but if you are traveling through Hamilton (the city), there will be traffic that will hold you up. We had a taxi with a guide for four hours and we saw quite a bit of the island(s) in that time. We didn't go to St. George, but we did go to Gibbs Lighthouse, Fort Hamilton, and Waterville.

<dukesoares@gmail.com> was the address I used in November

You know...I misunderstood what type of scooter you were talking about. I thought you were referring to the motor scooters that many tourists rent in Bermuda, not a mobility scooter.

 

BUT...the good news is that the ferries to to St. George's and Hamilton are accessible to mobility scooters, and the additional good news is that you can ignore my comment about having to pay an extra fare...that only applies to motor scooters.

 

As I recall there are ramps in Hamilton, but I know that in some places on Front Street (the main tourist area) there are changes in sidewalk elevation mid block requiring you to step up or down.

I wondered about that. I would not have thought I would have to pay for my mobility scooter. Before I went to Bermuda last Nov (2011), I asked about accessibility for scooters and the ferries ARE accessible. I didn't get a chance to try it because our ship arrived late (because of weather) and left early.

In the Dockyard area, the only problem I had with the scooter was that the waves were blowing over the sidewalk at the bow of the ship, and there was no way to get onto the sidewalk on the other side of the street other than by lifting the scooter up the curb. There were no curb cuts in that side.

Just booked Duke Soares for 11/14/2012 and want to thank everyone for all the information regarding him. We are planning a 5 hour tour that leaves from the ship around 9 am. Any suggestions for must see locations would be helpful.

It depends on how much of Bermuda you have seen and what you are interested in. When I booked Duke, I intended to the ferry to St. George and walk around the town there and have lunch and then to have Duke take us back to the ship. But I have been to Bermuda several times previously (the first visit in 1963) and I've seen a lot of the things there already. I picked the things to see that I couldn't get to very easily on the bus. I didn't go to the places in the Dockyard area as those can be easily accessed on foot from the ship - such as the Maritime Museum, but also the shopping areas in the Cooperage and Clocktower Mall.

I would also do on my own the things right in Hamilton as you can get there easily on a ferry and it is more difficult to drive there than it is to walk.

Do you want a drive-by, or do you want to go into various places?

Some possible places include Gibbs Lighthouse, Fort Hamilton, Camden which is in the Botanical Garden, St. George (the church and the main square), and Ft St. Catherine. And we almost always go to the the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo in Flatts, but you'd not want to do that when you had a guide waiting.

In November it will be too cold and maybe too windy to swim (they close the beaches if the weather is really bad), and I would not book the glass bottomed boat either as the winds stir up the bottom and you can't see anything. So you could drive by the beaches (and get out and look for sea glass), but I wouldn't count on swimming. The people on our cruise (Nov 2011) that wanted to swim or do a boating activity were disappointed because all the boating things were canceled.

Hi all - we arrive on the Dawn from Boston Sunday 4/29 @ 11:00 am (disembark around 1pm @ Dockyard) I am planning to hire a driver that afternoon to show us around island, four people. Would like to go to Hamilton, and maybe St George (although we might be able to do that on Monday via Ferry but our friend may have a scooter so need to know if Ferry allows scooters?) Will shops in Hamilton and St George activities be open on a Sunday? Does anyone know if Duke or Colin work on Sunday? Also plan to go to a restaurant that night on South Shore Road in Southampton. Wonder if it makes sense to keep the driver for the evening or are there taxis easily accessible from ship to restaurant and back again just for dinner?

The ferry does allow scooters. I think you could have the restaurant call a taxi for you after dinner - they must be used to that.

Any other recommendations for tour drivers that can accommodate 8 passengers plus driver? I've been going back through so many posts but all I've read were for small numbers of passengers or splitting up into 2 cars. We want to stay together in one van. I've looked up Unique Vacations but cost seems to be $75. pp, which seemed high to me.

 

Thanks if anyone can help.

Duke had a big van but I don't know exactly how many it would hold. At least 6 -- maybe 8. He does larger groups but I don't know exactly how large.

I don't know about Colin - I never heard back from him. Nor did I hear from the person who was supposed to be able to handle handicapped tourists.

Duke's wife does the email for him and they were very prompt, except that when our itinerary changed I had to ask twice to be sure he knew that our meeting place had changed. He answered me on his Blackberry.

Maybe they just don't know what their schedule will be that far in advance.

We were also on the Carnival cruise to Bermuda last week. We had already booked Duke for Wednesday afternoon, so we still did that. This is a photo Bob took of Duke and me at Gibbs Lighthouse. He is a little man - shorter than me, and I'm about 5'6" when I'm standing up straight. He said Duke was a nickname because they thought he looked like John Wayne. His wife is the harbor master at St. George, and he said a big Swan (sailboat) had come in and he had been showing them around in the morning. His older son is a professional captain.

We went to place that we have not been before

The first thing he showed us was a wall as we left the dockyard which

had the logos of all the ships that had docked there from early in the

1900s to the present. We paused briefly at the Royal Navy Cemetery

(burials of the British Navy dating back to 1700). We drove thru

Somerset and he asked us if we had seen the Heydon Trust Chapel, which

we had not, so we stopped briefly there. This small chapel dates back

to 1616 and is the smallest church in Bermuda. Gregorian chants are still

held in the chapel on weekdays at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., and on Saturday

at 3 p.m. This is the only church in Bermuda where such old traditions

of plainchants are still carried out that date back to the times of Pope

Gregory the Great. It had a partly above ground cistern.

We crossed the smallest drawbridge without stopping - our next goal

was Gibbs Lighthouse because Duke said that if we waited, the parking

lot would be too full to even get the taxi into. Here we got out and

walked around and Bob and I both took photos. We could see the Pride

across the sound.

We followed the South Road along the shore, past Horseshoe Bay,

Warwick Long Bay, and all the famous beaches. There was a lot of

surf even though we could see the surf line on the reef offshore. .

Then he showed us a HUGE banyan tree which was trying to cross the

road.

Our next stop took us by a beautiful nursery with all kinds of

flowers, but our destination was Waterville, which was a private

residence is now the headquarters of the Bermuda National Trust. This

was originally a place where sailors could come in to shop - I think

he said it was owned by Trimminghams, which is no longer in business

because the children aren't interested in running it. What he wanted

to show us was a water lily pond which had the islands of Bermuda in

it. (He said if it could grow a tree, it was an island - otherwise it

was a rock). There was also a little zoo.

Then we went past the Botanical Gardens, Collector's Hill and stopped

briefly at Spittal Pond parking lot where there were a bunch of

chickens running around. We kept going along South Road, past John

Smith Bay Park (which he assured us was a different John Smith) and

drove thru Tucker's Town, which isn't really a town at all and paused

by the beach of the Mid-Ocean Club which had a lot of surf. Some

people that tried to go to the beach the next day said that they

closed the beach and wouldn't let them go

He said he didn't recommend Devil's Hole which was something you had

to pay to see and there wasn't that much to see, so we just drove by,

and then we went thru the Flats and passed by the BAMZ which had a new

statue of a sea turtle out front - Duke said they made it out of the

roof tiles when they repaired the cathedral. He said the railway

museum is closed now - that maybe the lady that ran it died.

We went along the north shore - tried to get a photo of the Black

Watch well, which that regiment dug during the drought of 1849, but I

didn't really see it and don't think I got a photo. We went through

Black Watch pass down into Hamilton, past Victoria Park and the

cathedral, and circled the City Hall and headed for Fort Hamilton.

Here he let us out because the van was too heavy to go over the moat

bridge. We walked around the fort and took photos.

Now we were heading back for the ship - back thru Somerset on the road

next to Great Sound. I took a photo of the moon rising. He let us off

at the ship, and we paid him for 3.5 hours plus tip. Now we had to

get back aboard. They were X-raying everything which made it slow. I

sat on the benches along the line and Bob stood in line for us.

The pictures for this day (unlabled as yet) are here

https://picasaweb.google.com/GrandmaRosalie37/1109PrivateTour?authuser=0&feat=directlink

There are taxis that can do wheelchairs etc but I haven't gotten a response from them. I have a scooter that comes apart and goes in my car trunk and my problem in walking is with my lungs, not my legs, so I'm just going to take the scooter apart for our tour. In the Bahamas I had a ship wheelchair (that Bob pushed) and we just folded it up and stuck it in the taxi van.

Do all of the guides adhere to the current guidelines for price or do some of them charge more?

Have you considered the ferry instead of the bus? Why not take the ferry over to Hamilton when you arrive on Sunday and walk around town - maybe walk up to the Cathedral and investigate the gardens (there are several in town). You might have tea at the Hamilton Princess.

Maybe on Monday you could take the ferry to St. George and meet your guide there, and then work your way back, stopping at beaches or shops

Then on Tuesday you can maybe visit the Botanical Garden (they have a free tour at 10) and finish up with the things closer to the ship.

I have heard about times when none of the approved tour guides were available when you got off the ship. I think if a lot of ships were in port at the height of the season that might be more of a problem.

Another question - how do you pay - cash, credit card or check? I would assume cash

terry55, hello again.

 

I will be taking a taxi tour with George Trott (gltrott@logic.bm). Based upon this thread, I contacted Duke Soares about a taxi tour--but unfortunately he did not have availability. I thanked Duke for his quick reply and asked him if he would recommend another driver (i.e., how I obtained George's name). I reached out to George as well as Colin -- George quickly responded as well as called me (he seems very nice) and I have still not heard back from Colin after several weeks [my assumption is that he is booked.]

 

Particularly given how quickly Duke Soares (dukesoares@gmail.com) replied to me (i.e., within 24-hours) and the many people recommending him on CC, you may want to contact Duke. Alternatively reach out to George -- although I have not otherwise found anyone on CC who has mentioned using George Trott, given he was recommended by Duke, I am assuming he is a good choice.

I tried emailing Colin and got no response. I also tried another person who was listed as arranging tours for handicapped but did not get a response. So yesterday I emailed Duke and he emailed me back this morning. So I booked him for our visit in November. Near as I can tell, we are the only ship there on Weds the 9th of Nov although one of the RCI ships is there on the 8th. The number of ships in port may have something to do with availability.

I have not eaten at many places in Bermuda recently. I would say it depends on where you are when it is lunch time and I would go with what your guide says. Mostly we eat where it is the cheapest rather than for atmosphere and we do not drink, so we have never had a Dark and Stormy.

The total number of places we have eaten (not including eating at the Hamilton Princess when we had a meal plan there in 1995) are:

1) Weds in 1995 on a land visit we ate lunch at the Dockyard Mall in the cafeteria there. No point in eating there as it is close to where the ship docks.

2) The next day (Thursday-1995) we ate at the White Horse Pub in St. George and hated it - but that was 16 years ago and I know this has gone through some changes since then. Lots of people like this place.

3) We have twice eaten lunch from the cafeteria or snack machines in the Botanical Garden - once in 1995 and once in 2007

4) We ate at North Rock which is a pub in 2004

5) We ate dinner at the Hog Penny in Hamilton in 2004 and liked it and I think it would also be OK for lunch. I would recommend it.

6) We ate lunch in St. George at Freddies in 2004

7) In 2007 we ate lunch at Kings Wharf at the Frog and Onion. But I don't think I would eat here on your guided tour time - it is real close to the ship dock

Most people try to eat at the Swizzle Inn, which is near the caves, but I have not been there.

You have three things which have hours that they are open. The BAMZ (Bermuda Museum Aquarium and Zoo), the caves, and the St. Georges shops. (Plus you need to figure in lunch.) You know the caves will take a couple of hours. The last tour is 4:30 so you would have to be pretty nifty to do that on Saturday.

The BMAZ will take an hour or so depending on how thorough you want to be. The last admission is a 4 pm so it will have to be done on Sunday

The smallest drawbridge will take no time and is very close to Kings Wharf and could be done Saturday evening.

The beach has no hours and the time it will take depends on if you just want to see it or if you want to swim. If you want to swim, you'd need to do it during the day Sunday at that time of year and there's probably not enough time to do that and everything else.

There is other stuff to see in St. Georges - you ought to go to the town square and see St. Peters Church - but since you are going on Sunday, you need to be aware of the times when there are services and proper dress.

The stores will probably be open until 5:30 pm on Saturday. So you might want to go out to St. George on Saturday and do your shopping then. But there is also good shopping at Kings Wharf and you can get there much quicker (if that is where you are docked) and many of the shops are the same. The Clocktower Mall is a good place to start. Some shops will also be open on Sunday for the cruise ship people

We work hard so we vacation/play even harder.

 

There is no way we would be frugal or cheap while vacationing. We will NOT question what we purchase, eat or drink. We will not be bored to save a few bucks by missing bingo or avoiding the casino. We will also continue to dine in the specialty restaurants.

 

###

We are retired - so not working. Playing hard is not an option for us anymore. We think the casino is boring, and playing bingo is for old people.:p

We WILL be careful what we purchase, eat or drink because we want to get value for our money, and we don't equate spending money with having a good time.

What a great topic! I find myself that it is possible to be TOO frugal... I hem and haw over every single trip, researching (through these boards, often!) to make sure I'm getting the best deal. I'm such a cheapskate, and it is difficult to let go sometimes and just enjoy the trip.

 

On board, again, there is an issue of sticker shock, as the cruise lines do appear to be trying to make their money through extra services and drinks... so we, like almost everyone else in this thread, avoid those. I hear Celebrity has good spa specials, so I'm going to see if I can loosen my pocketbook just enough to try one of those. Also I hear that if you get on board early, you can volunteer to be a model in the spa and get a treatment for free!

 

I'm also planning on bringing my own bottled water onto the Millenium in case the water quality is poor.

 

We're booking out excursions outside the cruise line - a helicopter tour of Mendenhall glacier costs $280 offered by the cruise ship, and same exact tour is $250-ish if booked directly from the tour operator. (this being said, we decided we were too cheap to book it at all and decided to just hike at Mendenhall. :D )

 

-Karyn

 

p.s. good to learn from ChevyCruiser that the high gas prices are just a figment of left-wing imagination - so that means I can get back my $8/day fuel surcharge from Celebrity?? ;)

Just a side note - ask how the ship gets their water. Some ships load water from dockside at some ports. But most of the time, ships will desalinate their own water. If the water is desalinated, it will be absolutely pure, with no chemicals or taste. I would never bring water on board - just a couple of bottles to fill.

I like to do all the research before I go - not so much to save money, although often that is one of the results. I've been doing this kind of research LONG before we went on cruises, and also long before the internet. I used to write up trips and what to look for and what to buy for my parents when they traveled in the 60s (especially for guided bus tours), and for my husband when the Navy took him off to some exotic port.

I do this both because it is fun for me, and also so that when something happens (as it inevitably will), I can present to my husband some alternative possibilities.

This applies to the ship tours. Sometimes I take them, and sometimes I don't. I know that I could probably do most of what they offer on my own for a little less. The question is - will it be better in all ways. Will I not only save money, but be able to do more of the things I want to do, or will it be just additional hassle for no additional benefit.

Two examples:

First Example - taking the ships's tour

On St. Kitts they offered a train tour of the island. It was quite a bit more expensive than I would normally pay for a tour but it looked really good to me. Some people that waited to book because the train didn't always run (being broken down) couldn't get places on the tour because they waited too late. I really loved the tour. I found later that I could have booked this tour on my own and it would have been maybe 10% less, but I probably wouldn't have had the pier pick-up and delivery back to the pier AND we got back on this tour QUITE late. I wrote:

The gangway was to be pulled at 5:30 for a 6 pm sailing, so Bob was chivying me along saying that I would be left ashore. I was walking onto the gangplank at 5:30, but I was far from the last person to board. We pulled away from the dock less than a half an hour later.

So it CAN happen that a tour would get back late.

Second example: Going on our own

In Rome, most people take the train from the port into the city. Many of the tours that were offered involved a lot of walking, which I didn't think I could do. The Naples stop was about the same - you could take a train to Pompeii or a ship's tour. The option the cruise offered were tours which were 9 hours and $175 each (including lunch). A private car from the ship was $750.00 for a half day The ships tour was too long and they went to Pompeii last in Naples, and the private car was too expensive.

So I did the research and got a private car and driver for with an English speaking driver for two people for a full day in both ports for $1345.00 total price (double the time of the $750 ship's car). In Rome we went to the Vatican and saw the Sistine Chapel, and the Colliseum and the guide took us to several lesser known but extremely interesting sites. In Naples we went to Pompeii first while it was cool and before a lot of people got there, and then drove down the Amalfi Drive. [We did pay admissions separately and also for lunch.] The driver picked us up at the ship and dropped us off in plenty of time.

If you read my post again I never said that spending more money means more enjoyment or that I needed to spend on everything I see. You put words in my mouth. I simply said that we enjoy our vacations without obsessing on ways we could do it cheaper. For instance, on time share vacations we never waste a half day of our valuable vacation time attending a sales presentation to receive "free" tickets to a show or some similar "reward". Our time is worth more than the tickets.

We eat at the restaurants that we love and not just ones we can find a coupon for.

I love to shop when we go on vacation but it is for brands I can't get at home------not just because something is on sale. Why buy something that doesn't really interest you just because it is on sale?

Staying at a hotel out in the boonies may be much cheaper, but you waste valuable time commuting to the places you want to be. Staying close by is less stressful and more productive timewise.

I thought the object of this thread was maybe to give us ideas about where we might save money. It is interesting to read about what other people do to save. It doesn't IMHO mean that people who want to spend money on some particular thing that they enjoy should have to justify it to people who don't want to do that particular thing. For instance, we don't drink, so the Captain's cocktail party is not of interest to us for the free drinks, but that doesn't mean that I would look down at someone who DID like it for that reason. Just because someone doesn't use ALL the saving money tricks doesn't equate to them being a spendthrift.

I do agree with you on the timeshare thing (Branson??), but it took me awhile to learn that nothing is ever free, and that if an offer seems too good to be true, it's usually not true. It also took me a long time (being somewhat dense I guess) to realize that I didn't have to use a coupon if the savings were on something that I didn't like, didn't want or wouldn't use. There's no point in getting three cans of soup for the price of two if I don't like soup.

I enjoy trying to get the most value for my money, and since we are old retired people, we have the time to do that. Since we have more time than money, saving money by staying outside of the center of the city works for us.

Ways we save on cruising.

1) Book repositioning cruises which are good value for the money. Longer cruises are also often less per day.

2) Book way in advance

3) Book the cheapest guaranteed cabin. I prefer to be at the center of the ship as there is less motion there.

4) For some cruise lines, if you own stock, you get a shipboard credit, and in between times you get dividends from the stock.

5) Sometimes we book with an on-line discount travel agency where the agencies bid for the lowest price

6) We drive a rental car to the cruise port which is usually cheaper and always less stress than flying, and we don't have to pay for parking as we turn the car in when we get there. Normally we can also drive up the day of the cruise so we don't have to pay for a hotel at the port.

7) Neither of us drink alcoholic beverages or soft drinks or coffee, so we have no drinks card or drinks bill. That (as has been pointed out) means only that we don't want it so it's not a savings per se. We DO bring small water bottles and fill them on the ship before we go out to visit the port rather than buying water.

8) Also under the "We don't want it, so we aren't really saving money" are that we

-- don't play bingo or gamble in the casino.

-- almost NEVER buy photographs and actually try to keep from having our pictures taken.

-- regard the 'art' as visual clutter which makes it hard to get around the ship, and think most of it is ugly. I have plenty of photographs of family and pictures that I or family members have painted that I don't have any space for other art.

--don't buy stuff in the ship stores unless it is extremely urgent to have whatever it is.

9) We don't eat in specialty restaurants except once when it was part of a package. The food was good, but not good enough for me to want to pay extra for it.

10) We go to the lectures etc. that are free.

11) I do research before we go on the ports, especially ones that we have not been to. I then decide if there is something that I want to see that I won't be able to walk to it from the ship, and research whether I can get a private contractor to take me (not one of the ships tours). But if it looks like a good price for the ship tour or if I have any anxiety about getting back in time, then I book the ship's tour even though it might be expensive.

12) We investigate whether the ship has a laundry and don't book the longer cruises if it does not. We bring our own soap etc.

13) I have not as yet used the spa facilities and although I have thought of taking a Pilates or yoga class, I have not actually gotten around to doing it. I have used the gym treadmills etc.

14) I do not buy anything while on a ship's tour, as I think the shops give a kickback to the ship. I feel somewhat the same about the ship recommended shops. I look very hard at the things that are for sale in a port, and try to buy only locally produced items (for example I don't buy stuff made in Thailand or China when I'm in Dominica). Mostly I buy gifts for the younger grandchildren.

15) We don't use a cell phone or ships phone on board except when disembarking when we aren't paying roaming rates.

We do tip extra (above the recommended amount) for a cabin steward who is personable and/or efficient.

I do eat ashore sometimes - usually lunch - as I think eating local food is part of the experience of being in a foreign country.

I absolutely DO use the internet on board with my laptop - I do that instead of phoning so our children know that we are OK and what we are doing. When my mom was alive, this also meant that she got email.

I looked at my last bill which was $535 when we left the ship. This was tips for two for 7 days, one excursion for two people, one photograph, one $30 teen soda card (I was traveling with my grandson instead of my husband), and the rest was internet so I could send my grandchild's family pictures and trip reports .

On Royal Caribbean, at the Cruise Critics M&M we all got a small folder with a pen to wear around our necks. It had a place for the room card, and a small pad of paper. This was so convenient because we could tear off the events of the day section of the page of the daily activity newsletter and it was a perfect size to fit in this, and I don't have to have a pocket to keep my room key in.

I also won one of those white fabric hats in trivia from HAL, and I also like the fabric bags with HAL on them that are in your room.

As far as things that I've bought - I also like to go to buy local crafts. In Bermuda I love the craft mart out at Kings Wharf. And in the USVI, I go to St. Johns Spice (on St. John) to get souvenirs to send to people. In Tortola, I go to Sunny Caribe. I like the Best of Barbados in Barbados.

I was given a handicapped room on my last cruise. I didn't ask for it, so I can only assume that it was available and not needed for anyone else. I appreciated being able to sit in the shower.

I have heard of people requesting the handicapped rooms who were not handicapped so that they would have the extra room, and making someone who really needed a chair not be able to get their chair in to recharge the batteries. So I felt really guilty that I had this big room. But I didn't ask for it, and I guess someone had to be there so it might as well be me if no one else needed it.

I am not really disabled, or at least I try not to be. I'm overweight, and I have nerve pain and arthritis, but I can walk maybe half a mile. I can do 15 minutes on a treadmill at a pretty brisk pace. What I can NOT do is stand for more than about 3 minutes without being in terrible pain. There's a lot of standing on cruises. So I carry a cane with a seat, and when I have to stand in line to board the boat or for dinner or whatever, I sit on the cane seat.

I've never asked for a wheelchair, but sometimes people seem to think I need one. I was trying to check in for a flight at the Madrid airport, and we were standing (or rather I was sitting) in a long line. The ladies keeping people in line came and asked me if I wanted a wheelchair, and I declined. A little later she came and asked again, so I said OK. We were over 2 hours early for our flight and even with the wheelchair and going to the front of the lines, it still took us 45 minutes to get from where we were in line to the gate.

But when it came time to get on the plane, the wheelchair lady pushed me down to the door of the plane, and then I got up to walk onto the plane. There were three other people there. A man and woman and someone who was probably the woman's mother in a wheelchair. And the woman looked at me in a nasty way and made some remark about "people who don't need it getting.." I didn't quite hear what she thought hat I was getting (because I'm a little bit deaf too). I didn't know how to respond, so I ignored her. I didn't ASK for the wheelchair after all.

My mother walked with a cane also and sometimes at places like Disney she'd get a scooter. I went on a trip to Spain with her when she was 83 years old, and she had a heavy metal folding cane. We took a side trip to Segovia and we had lunch and were walking back to the bus when we were accosted by gypsies. They had tablecloths they were selling draped over their shoulders to conceal their hands and one of the girls in our group had her AmExp card stolen. My mom had lost her change purse to a pick pocket in a bookstore several days before, and we knew that we had to be on guard. So my mom strode down the center of the street, with a straight outstretched arm swinging her heavy metal cane in an 180 degree arc around her, and saying NO NO NO with every step. SHE didn't lose anything. They backed off from her.

Another somewhat interesting story - we were staying in a condo in NC in late February and we came back from dinner and saw this fat guy and 4 bags was/were lying in the area at the bottom of the ramp up to the stairs. I think he had tripped on a little lip of the sidewalk that was about 2".

We walked over to where he was lying - I had my cell phone out in case of a trap, and Bob asked him if he was OK and could he get up and should we call 911. He said not to call 911, but he couldn't get up. So Bob tried to help him without success but he was too heavy.

I walked around and looked at the situation and than told him firmly "You need to get up on your knees", and then I helped Bob to get him up to his knees. Then I said firmly, "Now one foot", and he did that, and from there with him pushing on one foot and us lifting he was able to get up. He asked me if I was a nurse. I said, No, but I'm fat and have trouble getting up too.

He said he had tried to take too much stuff to his room (which was on the THIRD floor) and he would put his bags back in the car and just take up what he needed for the night. I think he had some kind of sleep apnea machine.

Great picture. Not because of El Moro, but because of the 25' RB-S in the forground...my son pilots one of those!

LOL - I didn't know that when I took the photo. Here's another view that I took a couple seconds later

I got up early to take pictures as we came in, because we were going to leave at night, and I didn't think I'd be able to take any photos then. I did get this one from the ship

I don't know that this is my absolute favorite, but it is up there.