Discovery Space Shuttle

On this special day of 17th of April, the space shuttle Discovery made its historic final trip to Washington. 27 years after its first lift off! It flew over the city three times, "piggy-backing" on a Boeing 747.

 From the rooftop, we could see it pass by, accompanied by a . What a sight! Awesome to see such a technical achievement fly around. Discovery is the shuttle that flew the most in space, at 39 times.

It will now rest here. I guess this will be the next museum I will visit.

Miami - Florida

In south Florida, the must see is the Everglades National Park. Although there are turtles and many species of birds, the iconic animal is the ALLIGATOR. And there are tons of them. Good luck for counting how many are lurking in that picture.
A scary moment was to cycle around the alligators, actually not to cycle over them!
A tastier moment was to eat alligator. It is white meat, tastes a bit like chicken, but is more elastic.
Miami was a great stop. The beach is fantastic, so wide. The sea was nice to swim in. And Ocean drive, the road that runs by the beach, is the biggest open air party place I have seen. So many bars and restaurants. Great atmosphere - for example, our restaurant had a transparent open air swimming pool on top of the DJ and kitchen area. So you could see people swim in the pool above you, while sipping huge drinks, having supper and dancing.
To finish this fantastic holidays, the tennis final at the Miami Masters. Very nice setting with palm trees and the beach in the background. Beautiful stadium, and once again very well organised.
Unfortunately, the finalists were not the ones hoped one for. Still the final was a display of very competitive tennis. Amazing that these two athletes could run for one hour an a half in the midday sun, while, even seated, I was sweating. I guess it makes sense that it was not me who got the huge check!

Jamaica - Cayman

In Jamaica, you need to know two expressions "no problem" and "yamaannn". So no trouble there at all. The excursions were well organized. First, the Dunn's River Falls, which we had to climb! It was much fun, and of course so refreshing.The next excursion was the Skyland, the local skilift, which runs through the tropical forest. Nice too to be on top of the trees.
Tropical forest also means tropical animals. I had to be fast on that one: a hummingbird!
Next stop: Cayman Island. There again, some tropical animals: the stingrays! Apparently, that picture is the most commonly taken in the Cayman. Am I a tourist or not?
At least, I am a sporty tourist! I did kayaking. Not so tiring, but you have to make sure to be synchronized. Easier said than done...
The funniest thing was this "flip-flop tree". Last year, a couple from Cayman got really annoyed at seeing so many flip-flops abandoned on local beaches that, one night, they collected them and nailed them down on that tree. Since then, tourists stop by that tree and add their own flip-flops.
After the kayaking, time to relax and snorkel! Another first for me. Nice to swim around and to look for fishes.
Do not ask me for their scientific names... just admire the fishes!

Cruise in the Caribbean

This huge cruise ship was home for five days. It was not with little apprehension that I boarded the "Carnival Destiny", since this boat is owned by the same company, which lost two ships in recent months. But once you step on the boat, everything is forgotten. As the cruise manager Noonan said, "what happens on this ship stays on this ship".
The deck was the place to be, with its swimming pools, its inviting chairs (so nice to watch a movie there - even if the program includes ET...), its minigolf course, its basketball field, its table tennis area.
Inside the ship was like a huge building with 10 stores. Of course, there was a huge number of rooms to accommodate the 3000 passengers. I must admit that I was positively surprised at how diverse the passengers were. Anyway, on each floor, there was so much on offer: fitness, casino, bars, stage, shops, medical center, restaurants, library.
There was always something to do, whether it is to eat (and believe me, some people ate almost 24 hours a day...), drink, play at the casino, laugh at a comedy show, being taken in picture, cheer at a cabaret, anything so that passengers would have FUN ! Still, all in all, the best was to relax and sunbath on a beach chair.
The 1000-people strong crew was well trained to make you feel welcome. Everyday, the cleaner would create a "towel animal". Most employees were from Asia and Eastern Europe, while the captain was an Italian.