I'm BACK at it...

OK, I'm guilty...of not posting to my blog in a very very very long time! Not because I haven't been doing anything here, but just because time has gotten away from me.

So, let's start with a day, last October, when Art and I went down to the Go Cart Races in Monaco....PROFESSIONAL GO CART RACING!!! The track was set up in the port...and as we approached the port, we could hear the high pitched whining of the engines...squealing tires, and the announcer's chants....It was the 12th Monaco Kart Cup!!! And was it cool! They had pits set up, with tents and lots of spare parts...and a track, with hair pin turns...up and down hills, straight aways and all! Way cool! The only problem is, we weren't driving them!!!

We have absolutely NO clue who won each class...girls races, guys races, mixed races, kids races...about everything you could think of. Big carts, little carts...just amazing the money spent. I'm sure there was some good prize money, but I am sure there were a lot more cars than prize money!!!

I'm even posting a video for you to see the SPEED they went! Monaco...this country never ceases to amaze me!!!

Camden is ONE...went home for the Festivities!

On October 10th, Camden turned ONE year old! I went home to be there for the BIG party! What fun it was....

Here are a few photos of the Birthday Boy!

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One Afternoon...this was off my terrace!

From the 24th to the 27th of September, Monaco hosts the Monaco Yacht Show, which is a world class show. Today, during the mid afternoon, I heard some very loud jet noises and saw an AIR show of about 10 small jets, all red, from the Royal Air Force RED ARROWS, from Great Britain, flying in formation, leaving colorful vapor trails, and wowing the crowds at the yacht show and all around Monaco! I had a birds eye view of this event...Enjoy!

Camden is now on the RUN!!!

OK, another "Mimi" moment!!! Camden is now walking...and by the looks of this video, he's going to be a star soccer, or as they say here in Europe, Futbol player!!!
Enjoy!

FUNCHAL 2008, Falmouth, England

Kernow Shipbroking, whom Art works with here in Monaco, celebrated a weekend in Falmouth, England, entertaining a few of their clients, along with family and friends. David William's, founder of Kernow, considers Falmouth his home...and is in the process of renovating a beautiful Georgian style home that is about 100 years old.

The tall ship races are a part of a celebration of the the 50th anniversary of the first settlement on the Portuguese island of Madeira, and Falmouth is the starting point of this celebration. There are 25 ships, in four different classes, sailing in this race.

Kernow is the Celtic word for Cornwall, which is the county that is the Southwest tip of England. In this county are the towns of Essex, Plymouth, Penzance, Devon and Falmouth, among others. Falmouth is well known for it's exceptionally deep harbour. Hence, it is a well known harbour along the Southwest coast. The Fal River was also where the boys heading to the invasion of Normandy started out...before they set sail for the French coast.

The land here has rolling hills, many meadows as well as forests, working farms for dairy cows and sheep. One of the favorites of the area is the wonderful cream that is made...sinfully delicious! Ice cream, clotted cream, and more...yum...and we did indulge a bit!!!

This being my second trip to England, the last was 14 years ago to London and the Eastern coast. This land was so green, a true Irish green, to me...with lots of meadows and hills. The harbour was filled with lots of fishing boats for work, many pleasure motor boats along with a large assortment of sailing boats. And the town crept right on down to the waters edge...with old stone streets and seawalls, pubs everywhere, and a great shopping area. Of course, with the festivities, there were tents along the waters edge with food, crafts, drinking and lots of music...both modern and traditional Cornish style.

On Saturday, we were all boarded onto a wonderful vessel, the Wando Lady, a wooden yacht built in the 60's, of American make, and just so simple yet comfortable. There were 16 of us on board. With a crew of three. There was lots of food and lots of spirits...the group all enjoyed themselves and each other.

Left to Right - Bogie, Kate, Jeremy, Lynn, Carol, Art, Kathy, David, Kylie, Andrew, Penelope, Arne, Cecelia, Andrew, James, Melanie...and missing, our photographer, John!

We set out to have lunch near the town of Helford. Afterwards, we went back to the mouth of the harbour and watched as the tall ships proceeded to parade out into the bay, under motor, because of the large crowds of boats all around them, but with most of their sails unfurled. What a site it was....AMAZING! There were spectators in rowboats, canoes, kayaks, speedboats, fishing boats, large yachts and sail boats of every size and shape imaginable.

The Mexican boat was the most festive, with music blaring from stem to stern, and much of the crew dancing away...it was a site to see. There were crew members up on the masts as high as they could go, preparing the sails for the start of the race. Magnificent colors, polished fittings and sails just ready to be pulled in to catch the wind and sail onto Portugal!

My memory of the hundreds of boats following and surrounding the tall ships will be forever in my memory...it was a once in a lifetime opportunity...and we are both so glad we were able to see it. Art voiced how his cousin, Lloyd, would have loved this day, along with Art's Father.

Enjoy these photos and video...it was a day to remember, for sure!

Monaco Ironman...Sept. 7, 2008

Today was the Ironman competition here in Monaco. It consisted of 1.9 km Swim, 90 km bike and 21.1 km run results in 70.3 miles in American measures. The internet site states the following:30 qualifying slots for the Ironman World Championship on 10 October 2009 Hawaii

50 qualifying slots for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship on 9 November 2008 Florida

Athletes representing 40 nations

Several of these athletes competed for their countries in the Bejing Olympics....very cool! The morning was overcast, 78 degrees F, and a great breeze. The water was calm, where the swim began.

Video of the START of the RACE...COOL!!!

We live just about 31 floors above, and 100 meters away on the ground from the start of this race, which began on the beach...the swimmers made it the 1.9 KM, and took off on bikes into the mountain area around Monaco for 90 KM...we've driven lots of this route and it's TREACHEROUS in a car...can't imagine doing in on a bike! Then they came back, parked their bikes and did four laps around part of the Grand Prix track on foot...

Art and I went down to see them after three and a half hours into the race. What an amazing site to see these guys and gals, old and young, still running after all that swimming and biking...amazingly fit folks!

We made it to the finish line next to the Casino, and was amazed at the crowd, some at the finish line and others on the terrace of the Hotel de Paris, with champagne and mimosa's freely being drunk...shucks...should have gotten an invite up there!!!

What a nice day for this race, fun to watch! Afterwards, we came home and had to rest from all our walking...Art's going to get us some ice cream to much on now!!!

Day Visitors from Home!!!

Ken & Joanie Huntman came to Monaco on a cruise, and we gave them their tour of Monaco AND the entire area. They had a long port stay, so we picked them up and off we went, EVERYWHERE in the vicinity of Monaco...including Monaco...Eze, St. Paul de Vence and dinner in La Turbie...What a great time we had with the both of them...hope they enjoyed it as much as we did!!!

Anne Marie Semich and her darling daughter, Sydney, came to Monaco to join us for lunch at the Monte Carlo Country Club, where I play tennis...almost every day!!! We were in the middle of our BIG move to our new flat, but we were so excited to take the time out of our day to visit with them. What a great time we had! Thanks for coming...we love having friends visit, especially when they bring us a CD with Barry's sermon and David C's music...AMAZING!!! We miss it so!!!