Wordless Wednesday - Slow Return of the Sun with Styx

 

Tuesdays with Tigris - End of the Vacation

This is the last week (for now), I have to share my day on the blog with the Lady. She has been home for 2 months, she should just move on. For those who don't care about islands and volcanoes, and are only here for the animals, we will start this off with purrfect me.

Now over to Lady.

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We had a full day back on Martinique before we flew home on the Monday, so we found a tour and headed north up the island, to one of the most famous parts.

Our day started with a walk through the streets to meet our tour.

From our meeting point, we headed off to Sanctuaire catholique du Sacre-Coeur de Balata, a replica of Paris' Sacre-Coeur.

Due to the island climate, it was in need of repairs, which were scheduled to begin soon. As it was Sunday, we listen to the service that was taking place outside the church. The singing had a Caribbean flare, and was lovely to listen to. 

After the church we made a stop at a small waterfall where we did not have time to hike. 

Then we were off to the reason for this tour, a visit to Saint-Pierre. We felt a connection to this place as our home is in a St. Pierre.  Martinique's Saint-Pierre is famous because on May 8, 1902, the city was buried with lava and ash when when the volcano Mount Peele erupted. Approximately 30 000 people were killed. It was the deadliest volcano of the 1900s. People did not leave the city because the politician's convinced them it was safe as they wanted the people to be available to vote in an upcoming election.  Even though there were minor eruptions and ask, people stayed.  (Not to get too political, but an example of a time we should not trust politicians). It should also be noted that far less was understood about volcanoes at that time. 

We were able to visit 2 remains of the city. The first was the prison. 

Above is the solitary confinement cell of the prison, which turned out to be the only safe place in the city. On May 2, 1902, Ludger Sylbaris was arrested for a drunken assault that occurred during a fight. On May 7th, after an attempted escape, he was moved to solitary. When the volcano erupted, Sylbaris urinated on his clothes and tried to stuff them under the door. While he did sustain substantial burns, he lived and was rescued 4 days later. He was one of only 3 residents to survive. A 10 year old boy, who was able to take a boat to sea and hide in a cave, and another man, whose story of survival is not clear were the remaining living. Sylbaris was pardoned for his crimes but left destitute. He ended up moving to the US and joining Barnum and Bailey's Circus, but was thrown out due to fighting. He later moved to Panama to work on the canal and died there for natural causes at the age of 55 (or so). 

Beside the prison was the theatre (which struck us as amusing) and parts of it have also survived. 

Looking at Mount Peele

Our last stop was the beach where some of the group enjoyed a swim, while others chatted in the shade drinking rum punch. 

The last evening away, was spent on the hotel balcony, watching the sun set.

Thank you for finding the sun with us this winter. We return to our regular programming next week.

Mischief Monday - Agree To Disagree - by Styx

 Hi friends, hi friends, hi friends,

Lady and Man said the following was not good. They said it was mischief. I disagree!

What do you think?

Styxy, standing in front of a painting done by an elephant

Nature Friday - Spring and Contest

Hi friends, hi friends, hi friends!

I am so excited for today's Nature Friday. Thanks to Rosy and Sunny for hosting.

First, I am very excited because it is spring. I am less excited, not excited at all, a bit frustrated, because I had to pay a tax. Welcome Spring!

Lady made Lanie pay the tax - no wonder she likes Man best

Now on to my contest! I am so excited for my contest, I want everyone to win, win, win. I also want to see grass, green grass, lovely grass I dream about eating. 

Before I share all the guesses, I will show you what happened this week. The weather people said we were getting 2-3cm/1 inch on Tuesday, but they were wrong. We got a big bad later winter blizzard, that Lady and Man were glad they were already both scheduled to be at home because driving was bad, bad, bad. We got about 15cm/6inches!

Snow and Ice

Pretty

So now we are on to the contest. Here are the names and guesses. If your friend Styxy has made a mistake, or missed you, please let me know. I have never done a contest before and I am so excited, sooooooo excited it is hard to focus. 

Without further adieu

We will see who is the big winner, besides us who won't have all the snow. Lady was talking to Callie's Dad who does snow removal and he said this winter was much worse than last! Will the snow leave sooner? Later? 

Yours, Styxy the contest King

 

Lanie's Log - Five Months Served

On Saturday, I will have served 5 months in captivity. I must admit, a girl could get used to some of the perks that come with not being a feral cat. There are some things (come back tomorrow), I could do without (namely Lady Warden). 

This week has apparently been monumental because we are now down to one litter box in the house. I started using the robot litter in the bathroom (Lady Warden set up the trail cam to make sure, one has no privacy here), and Styx was the only one using the one in my room, so Lady Warden removed it.

I have also started to be out and about a bit more. I am still a little jumpy and unsure, but the Wardens are so excited about it. If you are thinking they need a life, I would say I agree. If I have been out a lot one day, I need extra rest the next. It can be exhausting to house cat. 

Lounging outside my room

Coming to see what Styx is doing while Man Warden is working his other job.

Excited because the neighbour's cat came by. I know him from my outside days. 

Most exciting for the Lady Warden is I came upstairs for breakfast. I ate about half of it before needing to go back downstairs. 

I hid under the table until Lady made my breakfast and set it down. 

Before going back down, I watched the other cats eat. 

So this is where we are at month five. The Wardens are thrilled. I am starting to be resigned to the fact I am never going to be wild again. 

My best buddy Styx asked me to remind you about his contest. It is the last day to join the fun. Visit HERE. 

Lanie, Prisioner 3

Wordless Wednesday - Tigris Watching Bull Riding

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day And Travel Tuesday

 

Grateful for AI hats! Lady does not have St. Pat's Hats (yet)

Now on to some ship life.

On this trip, Man and I upgraded to the Yacht Club. This is a private part of the ship, where you have a Butler and private dining room, lounge, priority access to things. The services is fantastic and now I have done this, being in "Gen Pop" as we called those who were in regular rooms. I really value comfort when I travel (especially as I age) and would rather travel less and travel "better". Although I will admit to struggling some with the privilege, but if I am honest, everyone who is on the ship as a guest has a certain level of privilege. 

In our upgrade, we kept an inside room, which is honestly ok with us, as we don't spend a lot of extra time in the room. 

Our days looked like this.

Get up, get dressed, have breakfast, go on an adventure (even our sea day we did a behind the scenes tour), if we haven't eaten, lunch, then spa or pool, a nap, snacks and drinks before dinner, dinner, show, taking the evening air, bed. Repeat.

Afternoon tea with fancy potato chips

In the private lounge

More snack, you may be picking up on a theme.

The shows (minus one) were very good. No pictures as we respect the rules to not photograph. For a small fee, they had 2 40 minute cirque du soleil type shows we loved. 

We also took in a couple fun events.

We went to a silent disco, which was not that silent as everyone was sooooo loud lol. 

We went to a white party, where everyone was wearing white. 

We had a robot make us a drink (it needed human help and took over 3 minutes, so robots won't be replacing us for this kind of task for awhile).

And then there is the food. So much, really, really good food. So many pictures of food. Here is a tiny sample.

Every meal was presented like this. 

If I didn't like any of the er the appetizers, I would order the cheese plate (always on the dessert menu). This one, was made extra fancy when the manager realized I was taking pictures of it, he removed it and came back with it with more fruit. 

One of the speciality restaurants (you pay extra for), was Hola Tacos. As tacos are one of the Man's favourite foods, we went for all you can eat tacos. 

Man packed both his taco shirts, so I could wear one. 

Tacos, round one!

That is a tiny sample of ship life. Next week we will wrap the trip up with a tour we did in Martinique before heading home.

Styx asked me to remind everyone he has a contest, you can read about HERE.