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.

ENTERING HONG KONG HARBOR

By Pat Patrick • September 1, 2026
On Saturday August 29, 2026 we achieved another historic milestone on this circumnavigation of the World , we cruised into Hong Kong Harbor. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. The land encompassed by Hong Kong is confusing. It includes part of the southern coast of mainland China, just below Shenzhen, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories . Looking at a map helps, but the rules changed so many times! I asked my buddy Chat several times, to tell me if what I was looking at was the Hong Kong that the British had owned for years. The answer was never straight forward!

HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM

By Pat Patrick • August 31, 2026
Ha Long Bay in Vietnam is one of those bucket list places I have had in my sights for years. It's the iconic picture in my mind's eye, whenever I think of Vietnam . We had made plans to go with 8 others on a brand new, swanky Red Dragon Junk boat for a harbor cruise and overnight stay, but sadly the weather did not cooperate the whole 4 days we were in port. No ships were permitted to sail, per the local government. Many of us were bummed! This is typhoon session and there was a lot of rain and high winds our first couple of days - we were hoping it would blow out the last day and we could at least do a day trip but no luck! 

HAI VAN PASS to HUE, VIETNAM

By Pat Patrick • August 30, 2026
To get to the final stop on our Vietnam FUN Tour in Hue, we had our driver take us on the scenic route called the Hai Van Pass. This 3 hour drive took us back through Da Nang and then into mountains and along coast for what is generally a very scenic route. Unfortunately for us, it was mainly covered in clouds and fog.