November 17, 2024
My first view of St Lucia! Right there off my balcony!! Gros and Petit Pitons!
And even better - guess who came to visit?? My cousin Cathy and Rod - for 16 days!!
Cathy & Rod got to St Lucia yesterday and stayed at Fig Treetop resort - they had a great view of our SHIP pulling into Soufriere Bay this morning. I tendered over to meet them at Dock, and we went to the secluded Sugar Beach nestled between the Gros and Petit Pitons, a UNESCO World Heritage Site & the Symbol of St Lucia! The Beach is home to the exclusive Viceroy Resort and secured heavily but also open the public and where we also ran into fellow residents Deborah, Melody & John. The six of us enjoyed the beach and had a lovely lunch at the resort followed by a water taxi ride back to the dock. Such a nice day in a gorgeous place!!
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It's never a dull Sea Day on the Odyssey! We have such creative residents, that are always coming up with new ideas to entertain ourselves and have a good time. This plot was the calculating of Eddie and Michelle - a Game of Clue! The rules were simple - find the party venue at 8:30 pm, come dressed as a character, weapon or room from the game and solve the mystery of who stole the Ship's bell.
In March of 1974, some local farmers outside Xi'An, China are digging a well and accidentally hit one of the great archaeological sites in the World! They were paid one day's wages for the find, roughly 4 USD! The Terracotta Army was dubbed the 8th Wonder of the World by France's President in 1980 when he came to visit and wanted to meet the farmers, the oldest was then, 89 years old.
Xi'An, China has been on my must do list , for awhile. The story of the Terracotta Army has fascinated me, since I first heard it. What I didn't know too much about, was the actual City of Xi'An and the walled inner City that remains today. It was built from 1370 to 1378 during the Ming dynasty on top of the older Tang dynasty foundations. There are 9 miles of City walls, they are 39' high, 45' to 50' wide at the top and 55' to 60' at the base. There are four main gate towers and the only draw bridge restored is at the South Gate. There are 98 ramparts, watchtowers, battlements and a wide surrounding moat. It one of the oldest and best preserved fortifications in China .