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ron@pejnron.com

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Day Seven ~ There's been a bit of a delay between Chapter Four and Chapter Five, while we went to the Galapagos. All I can say for now is AWESOME! Then when we got back we had to prepare for our wedding. There was just no free time.

By now I guess you've noticed that we haven't been doing much on this vacation. The point is to relax, and just enjoy life. We've pretty much got that process solidly in place. We've had plenty of adventures, like Antarctica (twice). And our trip to the Galapagos was quite an adventure, with lots of go go go activities, both on land and in the sea. So, I no longer feel too guilty about our kicking back and enjoying this tropical paradise while it lasts.

I think this is a suit Pete hasn't worn before. I've simply got to buy more suits.

OOPS! It's Happy Hour again, and yes, these are mojitos. Pretty skimpy glasses though.

Pete tried one of their cosmopolitans, but I think he wasn't impressed.

I think this was one of the most unusual years for great sunsets. They are normally pretty bland.

We went back to Fishes & More for dinner tonight. We love that place.

The starter was some excellent muscles with a good sharp cheese on top. MMMmmmmm!

The Tuna was so good the first time I had it that I decided to have it again. You just can't find a meal like this in Argentina.

Does that look good, or WHAT? I actually took half of it back in our tupper ware for lunch the next day.

Pete got the sea bass, and the portion was equally huge, so he took half home for lunch the next day.

We see Jerome every year. He's become a good friend. He's been living in Aruba for the past 11 years,
and he's been a waiter at Fishes & More for the past 8 years. He's Dutch (of course), and a really nice guy.

Day Eight ~ We are now starting week #2. Usually they are able to keep us in our same room, but not this time. Thy moved us to Room #902. I thought it was on the 9th floor of the tower. Before the actual move, I was really dreading it, mainly because our experience with the Tower is that the elevators are very slow, and at times one or the other of them doesn't even function at all, probably the result of the lowest bidder getting the contract.

I was very glad to learn that it was actually in Pod D of the new construction, and only on the 3rd floor of 7 floors.

The view of the beach, and the Pure Beach pool bar and restaurant is great.

This will be our first sunset not observed on the beach. And it was actually a pretty spectacular one at that.

It's not often see a sunset like this.
It reminded me of our anniversary dinner in Cancun back in June, when we ate at the JC Restaurant on the lagoon.

One of the nice things about being here for two week is that on the second week we get a whole new crop of tourists. These two gals were really nice, and we saw them nearly every evening at happy hour. They were from New York, and if they didn't tell you, it was very obvious from the heavy accent the girl in the blue shirt had.

Happy Hour is a great time to meet new people, and hear their interesting stories, and share ours with them.

The Phoenix has always had a little "French Market and Deli", and they make some really great sandwiches. Well, it used to be by the Sunset Beach Bistro, but with the completion of the new lobby, it was moved there, and they no longer offer those great sandwiches. It has changed, but not necessarily for the worse, just different. The things you used to be able to buy there, like cereals, Pepsi, Rum, you know, all the necessities, these have been moved into another separate shop. They don't have a large selection, but I know that the little shop at The Mill Resort very near to the Phoenix has a much bigger selection, so I decided to take a walk and see what I could find there.

The On the way to The Mill I took a photo of the back side of the new construction.
There are four pods total, and this photo shows pods A and B.

Across the street from the Phoenix is a Butterfly Farm. We've been coming here since August 2002, and for no apparent reason we have yet to visit this Butterfly Farm.

It doesn't appear to be very well attended. It could be quite interesting

The grounds appear to be not kept up very well. But still, I'm curious enough that perhaps next year
I just might talk Pete into paying it a visit.

There is a local bus system that runs by the Phoenix and can take us into Orangestad, the capital city of Aruba.

The busses run about every 20 minutes, and the fare is $2.50 round trip.
They are actually quite modern. We usually go into town at least once.

The Mill Resort is quite nice, and we have stayed here twice, when we were unable to get a flight on the day that we were supposed to arrive for our Phoenix check-in.

The Dutch windmill sits out in front of The Mill Resort. It's quite a landmark.

I took this photo of the interesting sculpture in the lobby of The Mill Resort.

This sculpture looks much better in person. Photos just can't capture it all.

This is the central pool area around which the hotel bungalows are arranged.
You can see the Riu Palace in the background. It definitely dominates the landscape.

Tonight we decided to go to Blossoms in the Westin Hotel. We were in the mood for sushi. And although it is expensive there, it is always good. Plus they have an excellent aquarium, and we normally get a table right net to it.

It is hard to see, but Pete is holding a cup of hot sake. Kampai

This is a very pleasant way to enjoy a wonderful sushi dinner, with all the vibrant colors and motion.

And when the sushi comes, don't get between Pete and the platter of sushi

In Chapter SIX I will hopefully wrap this up so that I can dive into the travelogue for the Galapagos Islands. I hope the 7.1 MB doesn't surpass anyone's e-mail storage capacity.

Bye for now!

Ron