Holidays in the sun!

We flew from Halifax to Orlando to spend the holidays with Mary Ellen, Ray, Rhys and Owain. Our first challenge was a cancelled transfer to Daytona Beach Shores so after a scramble to find alternate transportation we arrived at our AirBnB which would be home for the next 12 days. It was an awesome house...this was my favourite spot!

It had a great backyard with a fire pit...

And a giant tree house....

It was a five minute walk to one of the nicest beaches we have ever seen...very wide and clean...

And vehicles can drive on it for a fee...

Beautiful beach days as the weather was very warm for this time of year...

Don was checking out the sights...



This picture shows a different view of the beach taken from the pier just before sunset...

We went to Blue Springs National Park to look for manatees who come to the hot springs to spend the winter in the warmer water...

They swim very quietly and their home is very peaceful...

Lots of birds there as well...

And alligators...

Another visit down the coast to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, the tallest in Florida...

Lots of people enjoying all the water around here...

A walk in the botanical gardens...

Huge trees...

Two boys on a trail, walking off some of that energy...

Rhys and Owain were concerned that Santa might not find us so the lights went up...

And the tree was decorated...

So Santa did show up! 

The “ big “ gift was a two day trip to Legoland which turned out to be a hit! Nana and Pop got some quiet time at home while they enjoyed their visit...

Another day we visited the Daytona International Speedway...

We took an All Access Tour so we got to tour the place...

All the flags are still half mast in respect for the former President Bush, they stayed down for a month. 

There was a Championship GoCarting race going on while we were there but no spectators...

We went to the Winners Circle and this is the only family shot we took during the holiday...

Lots of cars everywhere...

And what would a trip to Florida be without a visit to a Flea Market?

Lots of these...

Don was wondering if he could get a rooster in his luggage...

Typical sign...

The boys were the only ones to get a bargain...

And of course the holidays would not be complete without lots of good food...

Steak for Christmas dinner...

Lots of fresh shrimp with sweet potato fries...

And of course there were Happy Hour pitchers...

Lunch on the Intercoastal Waterway...

Rhys’s picture of me...

The place was a great one to have our last lunch of the holiday...

Here’s to a great holiday...hopefully there will be another warm Christmas in our future! Now on to the next stop...

(Backup) (Backup) Old Dehli, a sight to behold! Part 1

Probably our most interesting day in Dehli was a guided tour through Old Dehli which is the oldest part of the city from the 1600s. It is decrepit, dirty and crowded, but yet fascinating.

We met Simar our guide and another young couple from London at the Metro and began our tour. Since Simar is a foodie, a big part of his tour was to sample the street food which we weren’t too sure of doing but went ahead anyway. Our first stop was a lassie stand where we all ordered different flavours. Lassie is a cold yogurt drink which Indians often drink every day and they were delicious and refreshing!

This is Simar and the server...

Making our lassies, mine was rose flavoured with almonds...

We then set out to cover the streets...

The flower market...

There wasn’t much room to spare anywhere we looked...

Our next stop we climbed up many old stairs to a rooftop where we saw a courtyard type building that housed up to 10,000 men who come to the city as labourers...

They live many to a room and must make do with dire circumstances. The pictures speak for themselves...

Bathing...

Cooking...

Doing laundry...

Relaxing...

Picture of the group at the top...

Back on the streets we see these men doing much manual labour or else waiting around with their push carts for work...

So much organized chaos!...to be continued...