Florida`

John and I love going to Florida, and this last trip was no exception. We travelled to Kissimmeeand stayed at a friends house for several days. Then spent time in Madeira Beach area of St. Pete's, then back to Kissimmee.

December is probably one of the cooler times to visit, but I love that time of year there. Not too hot, Christmas decorations all around, and great walks without dying in the heat.

We spent a small amount of time in Disneyworld - Epcot to be exact - and it was very interesting indeed, but as I'm not a child, it was a little disappointing as well - but, then again, nothing can live up to the hype that these Disney places have been given over the years.

Epcot was very well done and it took a day to see the whole area and to experience the different pavilions that represent several countries in different areas of the world. My favourite was Germany - even though it was primarily a street in Germany that represented the architecture of some streets that are actually in the country. I loved how authentic it 'looked'... but the inside each building was a 'tourist trap', meaning selling whatever Disney sells to make more money. I also liked the experience of flying in "SOARIN'" We were strapped in a large seat, lifted from the ground/floor and put before a large surround sound/IMAX screen. A movie was then shown of places around the world as seen from a jet whizing through and over all the sites. Each time the aircraft dived, dipped, lifted or soared, we felt it in the chairs and moved with the aircraft. Amazing!!!!

Canada

China

Germany

Into Morocco

Christmas preparation was taking place while we were in Florida and it was difficult to get my head around Christmas in hot, sunny weather. The decorations and music were there, but the cold was not. Therefore, the feeling of Christmas was not in the air for me. Some of the Decorations at Epcot and Disneyworld Downtown were amazing and it was a photographers photo-op!

Our most exciting moments at Epcot came at 9:30 p.m. when the fireworks began. It was definitely worth the wait and some parts of it definitely gave goosebumps, which I am not prone to. In the beginning a gigantic world globe glowing from the inside, floated across a waterway into our view. The beautiful music and amazing announcers voice told the story of the earth and it's people very dramatically. This continued for 10 to 15 minutes. The main part of the fireworks began when this was over and went on for quite some time, all to the rythms of the music surrounding us.

The earth came out of the fire and water with a story surrounded by music and light!

The fireworks displayed to a backdrop of beautiful music!

On around day four we travelled to St. Pete's and spent time in the Madeira Beach area at our friend's sister's condo. A beautiful retreat with a pool, lots of space, beautiful grounds and within

walking distance of a long, white sandy beach. We spent time walking the beach in the mornings and in the heated pool in the afternoons. Several suppers were provided by my friends relatives, which was so welcome, mainly because restaurant food can get tiresome after awhile, even though we did make our own breakfast and most of our lunches.

John and his friend, Jim, were lucky enough to get tickets for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Football game, which I would have loved to attend as well, but if anyone was going to the game it was going to be the men as there were only two tickets available for them. According to their report - the game was so-so, but the whole experience was amazing, as I thought it would be. The experience of 40,000 fans in one arena was worth the ticket. There were half-time shows, fan shows and fan fun all around them - great memories!

Our last days were spent back in Kissimmee area and Cocoa Beach on the Atlantic coast. We decided to spend our last full day in Florida on a beach we had never been to before, so we headed out toward Cape Canaveral. Just below NASA Space Centre is where this beach is located. A beautiful, wild, gigantic Atlantic Ocean Beach with big surf, cool breezes and mist in the air. We walked for an hour and never came to the end. It was another amazing day topped off by lunch in a little Italian restaurant that gave great service. On our way back to our Florida home in Kissimmee we stopped at an outlet mall and spent an hour or two looking around. We spoke with a very energetic camera salesperson who explained many of the features of a tiny Sony camera that could do 'almost' everything a large SLR, zoomed lens camera will do. I also entered, for the first time, a LU-LU Lemon store(Canadian) and checked out some of their very special exercise clothes which I will fit into someday! n the way back to our Florida home in Kissimmee!

Alas, on Friday it was time to come home and so by 9 a.m. we had left our home and returned to Orlando airport. We arrived home to very cold conditions, but at least it wasn't raining or snowing, and now we have our memories to keep us warm until the next time.