Our Trans Atlantic / Mediterranean Cruise

Friday, May 13

Five hours went very quickly. We were up and off the ship by 7:30 am. In Civatevecchia, you have to shuttle from the ship to the entrance to the port, so we got to the entrance pretty quickly and bought some tickets to Rome on the regular passenger train. We arrived at the station at 8:00 am for the 7:59 am train!!! The next train was at 8:41am, so we were on the train at 8:41. The train ride was only about an hour. The train was very busy, but we were all able to get seats. They just were not together. We arrived in Rome just before 10 am. We jumped on the metro subway to go to the Coliseum. This was very convenient. We walked up the stairs and out the doors and there was the Coliseum. WOW!! The coliseum was so amazing. We had purchased tickets for the subway on line, so we were able to go to bypass the line for tickets and we paid a little extra for the tour. Others waited for 1 – 1 ½ hours to get in and we were on the tour in a about 10 minutes. Thank you Andrea for the suggestion.

We spent about an hour in the Coliseum with a wonderful tour guide, who is an archeaologist, so she had a lot of information.

There was some event going on with a lot of policia. We were not able to see the Forum, but we did get to see other areas on Capitol Hill. It is just amazing to think how old all of this is!!! Rome is a very busy place. I think there were between 6 and 8 ships in Civitavecchia on this day, so many cruisers in Rome today. I think if the cruisers were not there, it would still be crazy in Rome!!! It is a beautiful city, with new building mixed in with such old structures.

We made it through capitol hill, then walked over to the Pantheon. This building is absolutely beautiful.

Once we were done at the Pantheon, we jumped in a cab to go to Vatican City. We had about two hours left before needing to be on the train to go back to Civitavecchia. We knew we would not be able to see much without waiting in very long lines, so we took pictures and looked around, then found a restaurant. Being it was between lunch and dinner, they were only serving a mixture of pastas.. ravioli, tortellini and another stuffed pasta. We were starving and it was all homemade pasta…. So delicious. I ordered a glass of red wine. I was surprised they served it cold, but it was very refreshing cold. I drank almost the entire bottle. The whole meal was so good and was sooooo needed after our miles and miles of walking.

We jumped in a cab and made our way to the Train Station St Pietre and the train left about 15 minutes late… perfect timing. It was rush hour and there had been a couple of stops before ours, so we had to stand for a couple more stops before we were able to sit down. It was very hot with so many people on the train in the hottest time of the day, during rush hour, but that was OK. We could sit and it was nice listening to people speaking Italian all around us.

We arrive in Civitavecchia about 1 hour and 15 minutes later, walked to the ship with about ½ hour to spare.

Again, when we arrived, we jumped in the pool….. the coldest pool on the ship. It felt so good after being the hot day in Roma!!!

We met for dinner at the Crown Grill at the request of CJ and Jim. The Crown Grill was even better than the first time we went.

We did not even have a drink after dinner, because were so tired and we had another big day the next day in Florence.

Rome was a great day!!!

Saturday, May 14

Livorno is the port today. This is the port for Pisa or for Florence. We chose to take a tour to Florence and Florence was the highlight of my cruise!! The drive is about an 1 ½ hours and it is a beautiful drive!!! Our tour guide was so good. See spoke very slowly, so us Americans could understand. We arrived in Florence and she guided us to the Cathedral and gave us a little free time for the bathroom and an cappuccino! We went for the cappuccino, croissant and the bathroom.

Our guide, Katia, took us on a walking tour for about 1 ½ hours to show us highlights and provide information, then gave us free time to spend at those places that looked most interesting to us.

Then she show us the highlights of Florence….. The Duomo and Baptistery, Pitti Palace, We did not see the original David (lines were too long), but were able to see the copy at the Piazza Della Signoria along with other statues by Cellini. We ate Pizza and Gelato. We walked everywhere we could. There was a big old car show up and down the streets, so we had to go around the parade route or run fast between cars!!

We arrive ½ hour early to our meeting place, so we sat and had a glass of wine and did a few post cards!!

Oh, we also went to a little market that was testing wine and olive oil. We bought some wine to take back on the ship.

Florence is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen!!

We arrive back to the ship and headed for the Sanctuary pool. This pool is in the front of the ship right under the Sanctuary. Most people think you have to pay for this pool, so it is usually very quiet. It is a wave pool, so you can turn on the current and swim against the current.

It was very refreshing. No pre dinner drinks tonight!! Dinner in the dining room then to bed for me. I was so tired. We were planning on meeting CJ and Jim at 9am and go to Monte Carlo together the next day.

Sunday, May 15

Our last day of the cruise!!! We all met at 9 am and got on a tender very quickly. Monte Carlo is so beautiful.

When we arrived in port, we found the stairs (and there is an elevator and escalator) to get up to where the palace is as well as the Museum /Aquarium. We also walked through the Princess Grace Park. The plants and flower all over the city were beautiful and city smelled so good. Once we took in this area and all the views, we began walking down all the step. As we all know, Monaco is full of hills. It began to rain, then rain harder, then pour!!

We stopped into a little restaurant for a cup of coffee to wait out the rain. Once it had stopped, Bob, Andrea and I jumped in a cab and went to the casino. CJ and Jim went back to the ship.

The big casino was not open yet, but the smaller casino was open, so we went in. Bob won some money, so we walked across the street to the Hotel De Paris for a glass of expensive wine!!

Then, of course, we jumped back in a cab and headed back to the ship. This port of call was only about 4 hours. The tender ride was a bit bumpy!! There were very big waves.

When we arrived on the ship, we had some food. Andrea went to play bingo and I went to the casino. We both won a little.

Another great day.

It is our last night. We have had such a great time, but I think everyone is ready to get back on land. We will spend on night in Barcelona, then begin to try to get back to Seattle!! We wont think of that quite yet. We will enjoy Barcelona, then think about going home!!

On Sunday, May 1, my partner, Bob, and our wonderful friend, Andrea will board the Ruby Princess for a 15 night cruise. We will depart from Fort Lauderdale and spend 7 night crossing the Atlantic before arriving in our first port of call, Madeira, Spain.

We are all very excited. This is our first Trans Atlantic cruise as well as our first time sailing the Mediterranean. I thought I would keep a daily log of our activities for anyone who is interested.

I will add information each days, so stayed tuned to hear about our first day on board.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Well, we have made it and spent our first night on the Ruby Princess.

We left Seattle at 3:00 pm on Friday and flew to Newark. We arrived at 11 pm, slept fast and left on the first flight to Fort Lauderdale…. Woo hooo!! All of our luggage arrived, so we were set.

When we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, it was warm and humid, but raining a bit. We checked into our hotel and Andrea and I jumped in the pool, even though it was still sprinkling. The sun came out and we got sun burned in the hour in the pool and the 15 minutes of laying out.

Bob’s sister and brother in law, Kathy & Chic arrived a couple of hours later and we had a great time sitting on the patio of their room chatting and catching up. We went to Bone Fish for dinner….. delicious!!

On Sunday, we got up about 8 am to get ready for CRUISE DEPARTURE day. We had a little breakfast with Kathy and Chic, then repacked everything to leave for the ship at 11am.

The van took 7 of us to the piers. The first couple we dropped off was two first time cruisers that were heading to the Western Caribbean on the Carnival Freedom. They were very excited and we noticed the water slides on the top of the ship as we drove up.

The next couple were getting on the Celebrity Solstice. They had been on about 20 cruises, but they were still excited!!! They were cruising across the Atlantic also and will end in Barcelona two days before we arrive.

Then, we dropped our luggage at the Ruby Princess Pier and our van driver was nice enough to take us over to the Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas. I had set up a ship tour with Royal Caribbean before I left, so we were going to see the biggest ship on the seas. This ship holds 5400 people. When we got to the Allure, Bob realized he did not take his passport out of his luggage, so he headed back to the Ruby to make sure he would have no problem getting on the ship later, while Andrea and I proceeded to get on the Allure for our ship tour. I verified with the security people that Bob would be able to get on the ship if he showed up and they said yes. Luckily Bob pulled up in the cab at the Ruby and our luggage had not been put on the ship yet. He got his passport and hightailed it back to the Allure, where we were able to meet up and continue the tour. WOW! We were all impressed with the ship and all it had to offer.

We started at the top (Deck 16) of the ship and worked our way down. We saw the hot tub that extends over the water, all the pools, a great teen and kids area. Walked through the sports courts and checked out the flow rider. The flow riders are very popular to try and very popular to watch. It looked like a lot of fun… I think I would be a watcher.

We headed down to Deck 8 and took a stroll through Central Park, walked by all of the cafes and restaurants and the wine bar. We then went down to deck 6 to look at the Aqua Theater. That would be fun!! We walked through the Board Walk neighborhood, including the carousel, the ice cream shop, the sweet shop, the hot dog stand. After the boardwalk, we checked out the three level Opus Dining Room. The dining room is very elegant, with beautiful giant chandeliers.

We went down to deck 4 to have a look at the casino, which was huge, as well as the comedy show room and the jazz club. We also check out the ice rink. We walked up to deck five from the casino to check out the Royal Promenade. This is a huge mall area with more shops, more restaurants and more bars. There is so much to do on this ship. Truly impressive.

As much as we like the Allure, we were anxious to get on our ship, the Ruby Princess. We boarded the ship. The Atrium / Piazza, when you board the Ruby, is very beautiful. It felt so good to get on the ship. We went directly to our rooms and our luggage had already been delivered, so we unpacked qickly, then headed to the Horizon Court for a quick bit. We had not eaten since a small breakfast, so we were famished. We ate, then decided to head back to our rooms. We decided to meet at Vines, the wine, Tapas and Sushi bar before dinner. While we sat, drinking our wine and eating out Sushi / Tapas, there were various performers in the Piazza…. There were some dancer, an accordion player, and an amazing violinist. Then, we headed to dinner. We arrived at the our dining room, Botticelli Dining Room. We showed up at 8:15 pm to a table for the three of us. I will be trying to change to a large table. All three of us like a large table and getting to know other cruisers.

We had a wonderful dinner, wine and dessert.

Wine: Pinot Grigio

Dinner: Vegetable Spring Rolls, Fettuccine Alfredo, Iceberg lettuce and Radicchio salad and Beef Tenderloin Medallions.

Dessert: Flourless Chocolate Cake with very light white frosting and Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

After dinner, we went to check out Movies under the Stars, the big screen at the Calypso Reef and Pool. A U2 concert was playing, but we did not stay. We will be back though!!!

We stumbled on the Sabitinis, the Italian Restaurant that sounds so good. The bar next to it, Adagio look like a nice subdued bar with a piano player. We wanted to see Skywalkers Nightclub, so we went up to the top. The music was fun there, but we opted to go back to Adagio. We sat and listened to the piano player for about a ½ hour, then he was done for the evening. We will be back again!!!

Then, it was time to turn in .. our first day and night on the ship. A great day!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Monday, was a very leisure day. We slept until about 10 am, so I had to rush to get some breakfast because I was starving. The day went fast even though we did not do very much. I checked out more of the ship and listened to an art talk in the Explorers Lounge. It was interesting, but only caught the last half.

I stopped by the casino and won a bit of money. I cashed it out and put it the safe in my cabin. That is not typical of me, but I thought it would be best.. Hahahaha.

After winning some money, we went to the Wheel house Bar. The drink of the day was a Cosmopolitan… sounded good to me, so I had two!! We had a good time chatting with a bunch of people in the bar. Then, it was time to get ready for our first formal night. So, we headed back to the cabin, got ready and headed down to Crooners Lounge in the Piazza… free champagne. It was packed with people.. all dressed so nice and getting pictures taken. We decided to head to our favorite bar so far.. Adagio. So, I refilled my champagne and headed to Adagio. Listened to Jay on the piano, then we went down for dinner

At dinner, we discussed what was the moment that we felt we were back on a cruise!!

Mine was the first sip of my Strawberry Margarita the day we boarded the ship.

Andrea’s was as she went to the pool on day 2 and the staff kept asking if she needed anything, what she wanted to drink, how could they help her.

I cant remember what Bob’s was, so I will report on that tomorrow!!

I got to the dining room early to see about changing our table of just the three of us to a larger table with others. Then, Bob and Andrea joined me and we had another delicious meal.

Dinner: Smoked Duck with raspberries, ceasar salad, Asparagus soup with Salmon dumpling and Beef Tenderloin (medium rare.. perfectly prepared). Our waiter Gersey brought us two extra meal of Pranws in a newberg sauce and put it in the middle of the table. They were so good, I was disappointed when Bob ate the last one. But, then, Gersey brought another, so I was happy again!!!

Dessert: Baked pear in a pastry shell… it was OK!!

After dinner, I went back to the dining room manager and told him not to move us. We like our waiter and Assistant waiter so much, we do not want to go somewhere else. We will have to dine with just the three of us.

After dinner, we went checked out two or three other bars. It is a very lively ship and the bars were very busy. At about 1am, we went to the restaurant, where they have a buffet set up until 4 am!!!!

Andrea and I decided to meet at the Spa pool in the morning at 10 am, so headed off to the cabin for some rest.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The alarm went off at 9am, but I layed there for a minute (or so I thought). I got up to get ready and Bob told me it was 10… so, I made a mad dash for the pool… after asking Bob which direction it was!!

I arrived to find Andrea in a deck chair with a towel over her.. she was a bit late too! The pool had been drained to be cleaned. So, we decided to head to the Horizon Court for breakfast. On the ship, the buffet consists of two buffet restaurants that are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each restaurant, the Horizon Court and the Caribe Café have two sides, so they are quite easy to get in and out. It does not feel like there are any lines.

Bob met us for breakfast, then, Andrea and I headed to the gym. The first time in about 70 days of cruising, I went to the gym!! We both walked on the treadmill for about a ½ hour. It felt good after eating so much.

Then, we met Bob at the Casino, where I lost some of my previous day’s winnings. They decided to go see the movie, Secrateriat, and I stayed in the casino and lost more of my previous day’s winnings. After losing, I went back to the cabin, ordered room service and checked my emails.

The waves were a bit stronger on Wednesday, so the boat was doing a little more rolling that it had been doing. Not bad though.

I decided to go back to the casino to win my money back, but they actually took some more from me!!!!

I went back to the room and got ready for dinner. We met Andrea at the Martini Bar for a drink before heading to the Alternative Restaurant, the Crown Grill. This is a restaurant with a surcharge, $25 per person. We all had the Scallops with seared Fois Grois. It was served on a little salad of Baby Bok Choy an apple. All good, but not a big fan of Fois Grois. Then I had he shrimp and pancetta bisque with chick pea croutons. This was delicious. The bisque was so good with nice big shrimp. Then, Bob and Andrea had a spinach salad with beets, tomatoes and goat cheese. The waiter must have thought I felt left out, so he asked me if I would like one, and, of course, I said yes. So, he went to get me another. For the entrée, Bob had a Filet Mignon , Andrea had Lobster and I had a 22 ounce Porterhouse Steak. I also asked the waiter if Bob and I could split an order of Lobster to make a surf and turf!!! I didn’t eat nealy all of my steak, but I did eat all the lobster. For dessert, Bob and I split an apple and berry crumble. The meal was wonderful. With it, we had a very good Meritage.

From there, Andrea and I headed to the movie, The Kings Speech. We had both seen it and we were a bit late, but it was still good the second time around. After the movie, we went out on the Promenade. The ship was definitely still rolling. We just watched the ship slice and smash against the waves. The air was very warm though. I thought it would be cold, but it was very nice.

Then, I turned in for the evening at about 1am… had to set the clocks ahead one hour again… getting closer to Europe!!!

Wednesday, May 4 (Added to blod on May 5)

Finally got up this morning at 9:30 am. Bob had already headed down for breakfast, because he wanted eat before seeing the movie on deck, Metropolis, a silent movie. I came up about 20 minutes later and grabbed grapefruit, sausage, prosciutto, and a Danish, then joined him for the movie. I was, of course late, and got bored very quickly, so I went to look for Andrea. I did not find her, but I did find the casino and lost a little more of my winnings!!!

I walked around the ship. The waves have calmed and the sun is shining. There are a lot of people out on deck sunning and the pools are being used. It is a beautiful day. I took a look at the kids areas, the Youth and Teen Centers. They are very nice. I heard there are 11 kids on the ship on this cruise. I also heard there were 800 kids on the last cruise. The last cruise was the Caribbean during spring break, so I am sure there was a different feel on that cruise.

I chatted with a guy yesterday who was traveling with his partner. They booked this cruise to go across to Europe. Then they purchased roundtrip tickets from Barcelona to Fort Lauderdale. They will return to Barcelona in the fall and take a Royal Caribbean cruise back across the Atlantic. The roundtrip ticket was less than and one way ticket. They are retired, so they have time.. what a good idea.

I am looking over the Princess Patter, the daily schedule of activities. I think I am going to do the Pub Lunch in the Wheelhouse Bar. The bars on board are very beautiful and all are very large. Bob arrived back at the room, so we called Andrea to see if she wanted to join us in the Wheelhouse. She met us there. I had a scotch egg and salad. A Scotch Egg is a hardboiled egg breaded and deep fried. It was very good! Bob had shrimp and chips. His shrimp was delicious, so I ordered that too… hahaha. Andrea order the fish and chips when she arrive and Bob helped her eat it.

There was a little sale on board for watches, so I bought a watch/ tie/ cuff link set for $20…… good deal. Andrea wanted to try out the Gelato ($1.50 for three big scoops of gelato.. your choice of flavors. They both said it was good, but they would not have each gotten an order if they realized how many scoops came with the order.

We went to the library for Bob to find a book and Andrea and I to pick up some cards. We wanted to play cribbage, but they had no boards. We took the cards and went to the Crown Grill, which is a game playing area in the afternoons. We sat and played cards. After cards, we were walking around and stumbled upon the after trivia game, so we joined…. And lost. We met and played with a very nice couple from Canada.

For our drink before dinner, Andrea and Bob met at the Martini Bar. I told them I would meet them at dinner, but as I was headed to dinner, I noticed they were still sitting in the bar, so I stopped and we headed to dinner together.

Dinner: Scallop and shrimp cocktail – It was OK.

Ceasar Salad – Very Good

Saturday, May 7

The seas have settled and the sun is shining!!! It is a beautiful day at sea today. We spent much of the day sun tanning and going from pool to pool to pool. I am getting some color.

We have a reservation set up tonight at the Italian Restaurant, Sabatini’s. We are planning on meeting for our pre dinner drink at Adagio, right next to the Sabatini’s. We met our new friends thee for drinks before heading to dinner. Bob had already asked them to bring a bottle of our wine from the dining room to our room.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a very nice maitre de. Our waiter was from Thailand and very personable. Andrea ordered a bottle of white wine to start the dinner.

We had every appetizer on the menu!! He served it family style. Calamari, Parmesan Cheese, Zucchini, Artichokes, shrimp and others!!

He brought us a bit of both pastas. Ricotta and potato ravioli and another pasta with a wine sauce… both were amazing.

For the entre, I had lobster…. Again. Andrea had the Tiger Prawns and Bob had the Langastino (there were about 6 of them and fill the plate completely. Our waiter also brought an extra plate of the scallops, thank goodness, because Andrea and I couldn’t decide. We also opened our second bottle of wine.. the red Sangiovese. It was so good.

For dessert, again, we had almost everything on the menu and taste each. The Tiramasu was the best I thought. Andrea love the Zabiglione.

We enjoyed a cup of coffee, then ended our three hour dinner.

We checked what was happening on the ship and ran into different people that we had met.

At about 2, we turned in for the night. The next day is our first day on land in 8 days. We weren’t scheduled to get to port until 2 pm.

Sunday, May 8

Today, we slept in a bit, but headed up for lunch at about 11am. As Bob and I were sitting eating, we looked over and saw the island!! Madeira. We have loved the days at sea, but were ready to be on land and see this beautiful Island, part of Portugal.

We finished lunch and walked around the ship to watch as we pulled into port. We sipped coffee as we pulled in and took pictures.

It was Sunday, and many shops and places would not normally be open in Madeira, but it was the last day of the annual flower festival in Madeira. There were beautiful flowers everywhere. We walked around the town and looked at all the beautiful buildings, the churches, the people. What a great day. We ran into our new found friends, CJ and Jim. We decided to sit at an outdoor café and have a beer.. the local beer is Coral, a lager. It was very good. We also had a local food item, Espetada. This is pieces of steak, skewered on a very long metal skewer. They hang it on a rack on your table and and drizzle a butter, garlic, salt mixture. The steak was delicious!!

We could see the parade from our seats, so we enjoyed the day and watched the parade. After that, we bought some postcards and stamps and mailed a few postcards out. Mom and Dad, the Armstrongs and ourselves are the only addresses I could remember, so watch the mail!!

We walked back to the ship. This was a much quicker trip than the busses that brought us into the city. The traffic was very busy.

We returned to the ship and had to get ready pretty quickly for dinner. We didn’t think we would make it to drinks, but Andrea and I were pretty quick, so we met at the Wheelhouse for a drink and met Bob at dinner.

Dinner was ham and ricotta flan (very good), beef broth with small puffs and lamb with mint jelly.

For dessert, I got mint ice cream and I also ordered a plate of cheese, nuts and fruit.

Coffee… then, Adagio to meet CJ and Jim. We were in the bars until 2, then everyone left, but I went to the casino. Did not do good at all!!!!

So, I went to bed… at about 5am!!!

3am by the time we arrived and we had to set our clocks ahead an hour.

Thursday, May 5

I had told Andrea to call because we wanted to get up early. Well, she called and we were sleeping. I answered the phone and asked what time it was…… 11:30 am!!! I haven’t slept that late in so long. I sleep like a log on board a cruise ship. It was a good night sleep.

We met Andrea in the Michealgelo Room (one of the three dining rooms) for lunch. I had some soup and troup for lunch. It was a nice light lunch.

Bob and I walked around the promenade deck, but it was very windy out there. Not too cold, but windy, so we decided to go to the movie. We saw 127 hours. I have seen it before, but it was good the 2^nd time too.

We all met up after the movie at the casino bar to decide what to do next. We decided to go play trivia. The cruise staff girl announcing the trivia questions is English and some people had a hard time understanding her and they got a little mean with her, but she persevered and made it through.

Then, guess what we did…. We went to have a snack!!! Bob wanted a cheeseburger, but Andrea and I wanted something different. We went to the buffet and met to sit in the restaurant and eat.

Andrea and I hung out to play cards and Bob went to take a nap.

We met at Vines, the wine café for a pre dinner drink. We had wine and sushi / tapas for a little appetizer. We went to dinner.

Dinner: Pasta with Pesto Sauce, Ceasar Salad, Duck and bok choy with an asian glaze.

Dessert: Something with carmel… I cant even remember what it was, but the carmel was very good.

We went to see the show… a magician / illusionist. The magician is from Venice .. he was pretty good. Bob headed off to bed, but Andrea and I went to the casino. I won a little more money. As long as I can cover my losses, I consider myself a winner!!

After the casino, we went to look for another bar, but everything was closed.. It was 2:00 and everyone was gone for the evening. We checked out the late night buffet, but decided we could not eat anything else. So, we turned in as well.

Friday, May 06, 2011

I got up at 9:30 this morning (8:30, but we had to add an hour to the clock) and headed got ready to touch base with different people on the ship, the future sales manager and the Captains Circle Manager. Then, I explored more of the ship, so I could describe to clients.

The Ruby Princess really is a beautiful ship and well designed. The capacity of the ship is 3400 passengers and I have yet to stand in line for the buffet.

I went to the port talk for more information on Sardinia and what to do. I missed the port talk for the first port, Madeira, Portugal. Luckily, they replay all the port talks on the TV in our staterooms, so I will check it out later.

After the port talk, Bob and I met up and had breakfast. Bob was still a bit tired, so he went to lay down again and I did some more exploring.

We all met at the Explorers Lounge for our pre dinner drink. Drink of the day was a Pomegranate Martini. We didn’t have one, but the gentleman next to us did. He said they were very good.. a bit sweet, but good. We chatted with these two guys. Bob and Andrea ran into him later and asked if they wanted to meet for pre dinner drinks on Saturday and they said sure!!!!

Dinner was, of course, nice. It was busier in the dining room, so we didn’t get to chat with our waiters as much as the night before because it was formal night. You know what formal night means….. Lobster!!

We all had lobster for dinner. I had pineapple with vodka on it and Ceasar salad. For dessert, I had a basil, lime sorbet. It was Ok.

After dinner, we sat in Adagio and listened to the piano player. He is great He is a chatter too!!!

I turned in early and Bob and Andrea stayed and enjoyed the evening.

One more day at sea, then we get to our first port!! Woo Hoo!! I have a feeling as we get closer the weather will get better and better!!