Finally, after being home over a month, I am posting the last of my travelblog postings.  I'm listening to Edith Piaf and wrapping this project up.

When I got back to Florida, my vacation wasn't quite over, yet.  I picked Rocco and my car up from Mom's place and drove north towards Jacksonville to visit some old friends.  They retired a few years ago and moved to Georgia.  Recently, they moved back to Florida and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit them, while I dealt with jetlag and rested from my journeys.  It turned out that I had no jetlag, so I was able to enjoy every minute of that visit.  They live very close to St. Augustine and the old fort there.  I had been there once, years ago, as had they, and we agreed that we wanted to visit it again.  It was a wonderful idea and we had a terrific day there. 

 Here are my friends:  Fran Stallings and his wife Judy.  Years ago, Fran was an environmental activist - professionally.  He was extremely well-funded by some local multi-billionaires and was able to rally all the local, state, national and international environmental organizations in a lawsuit against the federal government for non-enforcement of manatee protection regulation.  It was a long, drawn-out, vicious fight, but they WON!!!  That was the sort of thing he did when he was working, but now, he is enjoying a quiet, anonymous retirement with Judy.

More of the fort:

We were very lucky to be there at a time when the staff put on a display of firing a cannon over the harbour.  They were dressed in authentic Spanish soldier costumes of the era.

 Used REAL gunpowder!!! .... as you can see in this shot:

 .... and then pulled the cannon back from its firing position again.  It was fun to watch!

 More of the fort:

 After we toured the fort, we set out on foot to the downtown area, looking for a bar.  Saw some lovely examples of classic St Augustine architecture along the way:

 Fran and Judy wanted cocktails, but I wanted an iced coffee - I was having a fit, wanting some, for some strange reason.  Guess I was feeling tired and needed the caffeine kick.  We tried a couple places, and finally found a bar that served iced coffee:

 Bad weather was brewing, and we could smell it in the air.  As we drove back to their house, the sky and sea were absolutely beautiful.  I loved all the different shades of blue in this scene:

We had barely made it in the door when the rain started to pour down - a classic, Florida afternoon thundershower, but with more rain than usual. 

Okay, that's it for my travelblog - until next time I go somewhere, that is! 

In the village of Muider, in the province of Nord-Holland, just north of Amsterdam, is Muiderslot castle.  This was one of my favourite places to visit during the whole trip.  I spent four hours taking the guided tour, then wandering around on my own with a guidebook in my hand, taking pictures and letting my imagination carry me back to Medieval times.

During the Medieval era, the region which is now Netherlands, Belguim and Luxembourg was simply called "The Low-Lying Areas" and was made up of a number of small kingdoms controlled by wealthy "kings."  There was great wealth and great poverty in the land.  Muiderslot castle was the seat of one of the most powerful such men.  It was eventually destroyed, but later rebuilt "in era." 

Here are examples of the clothing worn by the privileged people of that time:

Yes, there really were court jesters in those times:

Although there was great wealth, living conditions were still quite primitive.  There were no underground water sources, no wells, no clear springs .... no source of clean water to drink.  Milk was needed to make cheese, so people drank beer.  They didn't make fruit or vegetable juices at that time, and they didn't know about brewing tea or coffee.  They drank beer all day long - pregnant and nursing mothers, weaned toddlers, everybody.  It had a low alcohol content, only about 2 percent, but still ....

People living in the castle relieved themselves in small chambers called privies, built into the exterior castle walls and portruding out a little from the main wall.  There was no such thing as a flushing system then, so the moat served as a primitive sewer, in addition to providing a degree of protection from invaders.  As a result, the moat was a breeding ground for bacteria and illness.  When the temperatures dropped below freezing, the waste was temporarily cfovered with hay.  The Muiderslot has a total of nine privies, five of which are visible.  Here are a couple:

Here are some shots of the outside of the castle:

And some taken inside the massive courtyard:

In the Medieval Age, there was lots of iron!  Here is the dungeon where prisoners were chained up:

How's this for a serious helmet?

A suit of chain mail armour:

More helmets:

More suits of armour:

Cannonballs:

More weaponry:

And a fancy, dress helmet: