Sunday is always quiet

Alto Vista chapel, Aruba

Sunday is always a quiet day in Aruba. Most stores and shops are closed. If there is a cruise ship in the harbor, more places are open, but today, no ship, no business! We slept in a bit after our long travel day and got to the ocean around 11:00 or so. The waves were quite high. so we knew the visibility would be poor. And it was.

PigeonWe swam for a bit, but the wave action was a bit much. It was nice to be in the ocean, but since Maurice is not doing that well, we decided to give it a rest and do a bit of exploring. We drove up to the Alto Vista chapel, a small church perched on a hill near the east coast of Aruba. It’s a pretty little church, with outdoor seating. About 15-20 people can sit inside, so that gives you an idea of how tiny it is.

We wandered the outdoor market, a place where locals display their wares on tables set up in a parking lot that runs only on Saturday and Sunday, but not much going on. I think everyone is saving energy for Christmas!

We had dinner in the condo tonight. A nice quiet day for our first full day in Aruba.

We’re hoping the wind will die down a little tomorrow. We see all the bad weather in the rest of the country, so we can’t complain too much. We saw that Newark is snowed in and flights are being delayed, so we’re lucky we got here when we did!

Here we go again!

Christmas Lights 2013

Well we’re back in the sunny climes of Aruba for a short visit. Looks like we timed it perfectly as the weather has reached -20 in Surrey! It’s a chilly +32 today in Noord. Hopefully the water will be fine and we see lots of fishies.

Our flight here was quite nice. We flew a short hop from Vancouver to LA on a smaller commuter plane which is quite nice. Two seats to a side and the flight left on time, and arrived early. We had a short layover and then on to Newark. Flight left on time, and arrived early. The flight to Aruba was very nice. Left on time, arrived early.

Christmas Lights 2013Got our rental car in record time, and headed to the resort. We managed to arrive ahead of a horde of people, and we’re in our unit quickly. We took off for the grocery store to load up on pop and coffee.

Had a nice dinner at Barney’s and then came home to crash. As we were driving around all the round-abouts (traffic circles) are decorated with Christmas lights.

So… we’re here in the heat feeling sorry for those who are stuck in the cold and snow. Do think of us, as we think of you!

Farewell Hockey Night In Canada

Farewell HNICWith the recent purchase of the rights to air all hockey games in Canada, Rogers has altered the landscape of how we will view hockey for the next twelve years. Tim Thompson has been creating the opening montages for Hockey Night In Canada on the CBC for years, but on Saturday, he served up a timeless classic.

Whether or not you are a fan of the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs really doesn’t matter. It’s all about hockey, the fans, and atmosphere that surrounds the game when two great rivals meet. The final shot of the two young fellows arm in arm with a fist, cocked ready to go, is so quintessentially Canadian, so gut-wrenchingly expressive of how it is to be a youngster in Canada, that I doubt you could come up with a better shot that symbolizes Canada, hockey and the Two Solitudes.