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Greetings all

Fog today. today started early for me as we had a zoom studio board meeting which I attended in a sweatshirt over pajamas. All is well and I got the things I wanted. Onward.

So for a few days now I am getting these AI generated summaries of email conversations. They just show up in my gmail. I don't want these and am trying to figure out how to stop them as it is a waste of space. Yesterday there was an interesting one. One of you liked my post here from yesterday whi*****luded a statement to the effect that it was foggy yesterday while I drove to Scrabble and that I triumphed by winning three games. The AI summary of this was as follows "Diane S. reported winning three Scrabble games despite heavy fog..". WTF, why does some robot think I play scrabble outside in the fog? Hence my continued distrust of AI. No thanks.

So CC glad there are a few balloons. Also rain. Enjoy lunch out.

Liz the VBIs sound wonderful. Beach is what it is all about and it all sounds good.

DD glad to hear you arrived safely and are having fun. What a great idea to go to a flea market in a foreign country. How interesting to see what stuff they have. Sure why not do the winery? What does economy comfort class have to offer? One half inch more room or what? Good that flights were on time.

Looks like a lot of our nation is having a horrid winter storm with boat loads of snow. Grateful to be away from that. You too Paula and DD. Sympathies to Bonnie. stay warm please.

Not much else. The last of the pot roast tonight. And thanks CC for the note on season two of the Night Manager. We loved season one. Also watched episode 2 of this season of Hijack. Multilayerd plot which I have not figured out yet.

Well time to get moving and get to the gym. Amazing what you can get done when you get up early.

Diane S

Thank you for providing the very-important Diet Coke News!!! Hope you have a wonderful time!

Good morning from Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Or Brasil as it's called by the locals. DH said we knew we were here when he saw that spelling at the airport.

The flights were all on time, with no problems. The main flight, over 9 hours, was tough, even in Economy comfort (which was an awesome surprise!). When we arrived in Porto Alegre, my host sister, host cousin and her husband were waiting for us with noise makers sign, and balloons.

We went straight to our Airbnb and it is so cute. We will be very comfortable here. Beautiful views from the small balcony, and right in the heart of a chic neighborhood with so many cafe, restaurants within walking distance.

It's actually coolish here for the middle of summer, it was only 78 degrees yesterday. We loved it because we could have the windows open last night with a delicious breeze. It's going to heat up in the next days, but for now we are enjoying the fresh breezes.

Once we arrived, we went to lunch, and my host brother and his wife joined us. Then back to our house to sleep. We ventured on foot to the supermarket by ourselves. No diet coke, but plenty of coke zero. Shopping was an adventure, trying to figure out what stuff was. For example, direct translation, how would you expect silver cheese to taste? Turns out, pretty good.

My host brother offered to take us overnight to their wine region on Thursday, returning to the city on Friday evening. Sunday we are going to a flea market in the main park of the city. Not sure when I'm going to make it to the pool? Maybe Saturday : ) Or this afternoon if it gets warmer.

When we went to bed last night, tired and happy, I told DH, wasn't this a great idea? He said, I wonder how much condos in this building cost? LOL. So, yep, things are going well.

Beautiful, sunny morning out but with a slight breeze so I need something on my arms right now. Better than rainy or cold!

Yesterday was a nice day on the beach in Virginia Gorda. The BBQ food wasn't great but the rum punch was. It was a bit of a challenge for them to keep things hot because it was very windy. We had 2 drenching rainstorms while there but they only lasted a few minutes and the sun was out immediately afterwards. The water was beautiful for swimming - clear and relatively warm. We ate on the deck last night then went to the crew talent show. Funny but some of the acts were kind of dumb. The entertainment director had an amazing singing voice.

Today we are at Jost Van Dyke. We think we are going to eat an early lunch, then go over to the island to visit 2 bars: Foxy's and Soggy Dollar. Both famous BVI bars. Tonight is the deck BBQ, which is always much more robust than the beach one since they use the kitchens here for everything. There will be music and dancing on deck as well.

Have a wacky Wednesday!

So impressed that you won against the shark!

BVI (and USVI) are beautiful, relaxing islands. Calm, turquoise waters for swimming and/or snorkeling and soft sand beaches. No shoes needed most places! The best way to visit would be via a charter vessel as we did in March, but doing it by a small ship like this is wonderful too. With the latter we have to anchor out further, wait for tenders, and work within their itinerary. Easier to be a bit flexible on the charter with places, times and locations. We paid $6,666 per person for the charter (7 nights) and $3465 for the trip we are on (8 nights). We could have booked a smaller charter boat for less money but we wanted more space. There were charters at half the cost of the one we did for the same amount of time. Our friend booked through a charter broker called AMWAX Charters.