April 17, 2025

FORT DE FRANCE, MARTINIQUE - 2nd time here!

It was really nice to be in a familiar port, and on a Sunday so we could go to Mass. A group of us all went together which made it even more special. These teens were all making their confirmation and were being honored on the alter at the end of Mass.

Last week in the Portuguese church, I used Google translate during the Readings and the Homily and was able to understand a good 90% of what was being said by the readers and the Cardinal. I tried using Google translate again, this week and it went terribly wrong translating the French ! Below are a couple of the translations I got. I stopped trying after the last one!

After Mass we tried to get some group shots - below L to R - Holly, Amy, Fran, Kimberly & Phil and me with Steve and Ann, fellow Philadelphians - they actually live in Haverford. We did some dress shopping after Mass.

By Pat Patrick July 14, 2026
I really enjoyed my first trip to Thailand! On our final morning here we went to try breakfast at this spot, down the road, we had been hearing rave reviews on, King Of Bread . The hype was correct, the breakfast was delicious and they had some unique choices. I had eggs benedict on a croissant, in lieu of the standard english muffin and Bosco had it on Milk Bread, which was equally tasty.
By Pat Patrick July 14, 2026
We love having authentic experiences with locals to really get a chance to see how they live and thrive in the Ports we visit. So when I found a cooking class, by a local woman offered in her home, we were excited to book. Um ( our teacher) picked us and brought us back to our hotel along with the family of 4 from Sydney, Australia, that had also signed up for this afternoon class. Um's house, which has a lovely open air kitchen, garden and dining area, was about a 30 minute drive and turned out to be on the beach, right next to the Grandparent Rocks.
By Pat Patrick July 14, 2026
The nightlife scene doesn't really get going till after 11pm and goes till 5 am in the Chaweng section of Koh Samui . We made our way over to the club district, and one of the hot spots called the ArkBar a little past 10pm to have some dinner, while watching the beach fire shows.