Norwich In A Day

As you might have seen over at Mike's place, we got together last Saturday and ventured up north to a county not yet seen. We went to Norwich in Norfolk, Nelson's County.

We didn't plan much, just knew there was a river, a market, a castle and a cathedral...typical to quite a few cities in England. We went first to the castle, and were thoroughly unimpressed. There were gatekeepers that wanted us to pay money to see bricks that are 1000 years old (bo-ring!), so we decided to walk on.

Walk on we did, and we eventually found the cathedral - and a few goofy statues along the way! Mike's blog has more statue-pics that he took, but here's one that I took of Dave. We don't know what the actual statue was, maybe woman and child? It's so nouveau-artiste that we didn't know!

When we got into the Cathedral, we found the Queen's Jubilee Maze in the Cloisters. Mike and Dave set out to conquer the middle of the maze (and scoffed at me for waltzing right through to get good pictures!). Here are two, one of Dave on his journey with a good shot of the maze, and one of the conquerors.

After the cathedral, we wandered into the town centre, and found the very colorful market stalls. Much to our surprise, there was a treat for Mike. There was a band of Morris Dancers! A former employee of mine had introduced me to Morris Dancing a couple of years ago, so it wasn't new to me, but I'm not even sure if Mike had ever even heard of them! If you ever get the chance to see Morris Dancers, you should! The tradition goes back to the 15th Century, and even though it looks corny to us for people to whack sticks and fling handkerchiefs around while their shins jingle with bells, it's still a folk-dancing tradition that deserves our respect. I took a couple of videos, but, sadly, I can't seem to convince Blogger to post the video. Big. :( Sad. :( Face. :(

What's New?

Well, our phone is sorta working again. Every now and then there is a sharp squeal in my ear that I don't appreciate very much, but I guess this is as good as it gets for now. Our broadband is a lot more reliable!

I am really having trouble believing that July will be over in a couple of days. I suppose it would be easier for me to believe if the weather here had actually topped 75*F this entire month! I might have tempted fate, but yesterday I took the flannel sheets off my bed and replaced them with normal-weather percale sheets! Still wearing flannel pj's, though. Someone said we should see summer about August 15th or so. I can't wait! :o) I want to wear my cute summer clothes, dangit!

I did a little post-church shopping today. I bought some boring stuff, but I also bought some fun stuff. Guildford has a new store called Paperchase, which I love love love. I experienced my first Paperchase in the Waterloo train station, and then my second store was in Brighton. I've always wanted one in Guildford, and now I've got one! Sure, it's 2 months till we move away, but it will be a gloriously Paperchase-filled 2 months! They have fun stuff! Today I bought some gifts for other people, but I also bought meself a little somethin' special: It's a "Butterfly Pod Jacket" Here's a picture so you can covet:

The one on the left is my new one, the one on the right is the old one. It wasn't very protective. I often found that my little iPoddy-diPoddy was turned on and burning power just because I'd somehow bumped it in my purse. :( Now, the butterflies will keep it safe for me! Ain't it purdy?

I was very tempted to buy some new clothes, but I refrained because as of Tuesday, I am no longer employed (again), so not only do I have no need for new clothes, I need to purge what I've got! I get to spend the entire month of August touching every single thing in my house deciding its fate. Where does it go? America? Charity shop? Rubbish? Neighbor? eBay? This will be a stressful task, I'm sure, but it has to be done. I really want to do this move right. I don't know yet when we'll be actually physically moving, but it will happen.

I have a strong desire to be back in America before the season premiers of all my favorite shows. Is that wrong? Hmm, nah, didn't think so. I have been without reliable (and good) TV for the last 3 years, and I'm ready to be done with that! For instance. Grey's Anatomy. We're on Episode 10. TEN! Of 25! Christina just tattled on Burke. The rest of the civilized world knows what happens throughout the season...but not me! :( (I'm looking for sympathy here) So, all I'm asking for is to see the premier on the same day as the rest of you, not 8 months later. Honestly, I think I'll be able to buy the Season 3 DVD before the season is actually finished here! What a crime!

Also, I've just finished putting our Greece pictures into their respective posts. I'm really sorry for the delay. :( I'm a bad blogger.

Have a great week!

I am...

Over at Queen of the Dirty Laundry, I found a little quiz...and since I'm so studious, you know, I had to take it! I'm not sure if I should be proud of myself, or ashamed. Hmmm...what do you think?

78%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Free Online Dating from Mingle²

Inter...

Here's a new word for ya:

Interpatchyvaguesmidgeymittent

I invented it. (duh). It is a description of what our Internet service is like right now. Forget what I said in my last post about how our Internet was working but our phones weren't!

So, if I seem to be interpatchyvaguesmidgeymittent for the next couple of weeks, you'll know it's not me, it's the underground telephone cable that apparently got flooded out, or something.

To make up for it, here's another photo from the end of our balloon ride a couple of weeks ago:

Hope all is well with you!

The Rains

Some of you have experienced it, most of you have probably only read about it on the Internet or heard about it on the news.


We had a good deal of it here on Friday morning - a lot of the local roads were flooded. They actually sent us all home from work early because they knew the river next to our building would flood over the road and we wouldn't be able to get out. The rain had pretty much subsided by the time we left, but the flooding didn't. Of the 3 routes I normally take, I knew one would be flooded, so I took a different one. Unfortunately, there was a low point in the road I didn't consider, and the water was deep for about 10 car lengths...and there were 3 cars stranded on my side of the road (that had not come through the water very successfully) and 2 on the other. Even some taller vehicles, not just little rat-runners like mine! So, I waited for the car in front of me to go through (didn't want to get stuck behind him, that's for sure!), and then I started out slowly, kept it slow, and periodically I would engage the clutch and gently rev the engine to be sure the water didn't linger. That, and lots of prayer, and I made it through. A few more revs on the other side, and I sailed home. The sun was actually shining the last few minutes!


I got home and worked for a few hours, then Dave and I drove up to Suffolk for the weekend. We didn't have any more rain at all...until we were driving back from Norwich on Saturday. We went there with Mike and had beautiful weather all day - until we were about 30 minutes away from our temporary home, and then the skies just opened up! I was wishing I had one more notch on my windshield wipers! 3 was just not clearing it! The rain ended, and Mike headed home.


We're home again now, and the only evidence of the torrents of rain here is that our phone is down. Our internet isn't. I don't understand that, but it apparently has to do with telephone magic. BT expects that they will have the problem fixed by the morning of August 3rd. Today is the 22nd. That's, like, 2 weeks without a phone. Two. Weeks.


Man, I hope BT is wrong!


But, at least the Internet is still working...and, really, loads and loads of other Brits have it way worse than I do right now. I've got water. And electricity. And a dry floor. My pets are secure. I'm pretty blessed.


Sadly, they are predicting more rains for tomorrow. Coming up from France again. Seriously - the Frenchies shouldn't be quite so generous!! Good things that come from France: cheese, wine, lace...not weather.

Where have you been?

Maybe I've got Writer's Block. Who knows. All I know is that it's been over a week since I posted, and I'm sorry. I haven't really been busy. I've been reading what's going on in other people's bloggie worlds. I've even posted comments on a few sites where I like to lurk. I just haven't posted anything here. Sorry. I know I've got work to do here. I've got some more Greece pictures that I've been promising for weeks. And I've got to expound a little more on our balloon ride from last week. And I've got a good long rant in my head that I want to blog about...but none of that seems to be happening! Maybe it's like when I was in school and knew I had a bunch of homework or projects to do and I just wouldn't do them because the thought of all the combined work would just intimidate me into procrastination. Who knows. I guess that's one for the therapist, huh? :o)

I have been doing some crafts, though. I invited some friends over and we all painted. Mine's pretty boring because I was spending most of my time helping them, so I won't show you a boring picture of a boring painting.

I've also been working on a crochet project that I found the pattern for a few years ago. It's called a Wiggie, using the "fun-fur" or "eyelash" yarn to make a short-haired wig for radiation and chemotherapy patients. Weeeellllll, never one to get right on it, I've been holding the pattern. So this weekend I went out and got some of the eyelash yarns that actually sorta resemble hair (as opposed to stripes of pink, orange, and green!), and proceeded to crochet two wiggies. Here is the one with longer "hair":

(I used 2 skeins of Sirdar Foxy Fur, in Sable.)

And here's one with my best model, Alley. She's modelling the short "hair" version. Look how pleased she is.

(I used one skein of Sirdar Funky Fur in, um, Shade 0557. It's pretty. Really! I don't know why they didn't give it a good name!) (It looks like brunette with blonde highlights.)

Up Up and Away...

We had an incredible evening tonight. I don't have much time to expound, but I've got 3 photos that say a lot. Dave and I had a hot-air balloon ride tonight (along with 14 other people) over our town and surrounding countryside. We've been trying to go for over a year now, but it kept getting cancelled due to rain. Tonight was our night. I hope to post some video one day soon about it, too.

Incredible!

Here are 3 photos:

The balloon inflating:

We live...right...about...there.

Here's an aerial photo of us:

Again, more to come soon, but I just wanted to get this up for a start.

Donating my body to science...

Were I to donate my body to science (or, rather, if Dave were to donate my body to science...) how much would I be worth?

Here's a clue:
$4640.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth. From Mingle2 - Free Online Dating

I found this on The Wooden Porch blog. She's funny. You should visit her blog.

But I'm kinda miffed. Apparently my body is worth less than 5Gs! What's up with that? Must be my age. Oh, and I like Coca-cola.

I guess Dave shouldn't plan on having much extra cash, eh? :o)

Rhodes to London -- Day 7 (and 8)

Well, we're home. And I'm cold again! Back to the flannel pj's.

Saturday was a very long day. Long. We woke up around 9:00, and had breakfast, then I wanted to do some shopping, so I headed uptown to try to find some goodies. I'm sad to report that I just wasn't in the zone. Valiantly I tried, defeated I returned. Other than a few new pens and a pencil, I have very little to show for my trip to Greece. (oh, and the pictures...that I still have to post!)

The stores are only open from 9:00 to 2:00 on Saturdays, so I had to really concentrate and not lolly-gag around. Dave texted me around 12:10 to say that he wanted to come meet me (shocker!!), and asked where I was. I found where I was on the map, and told him, and he set out. 30 minutes later he still hadn't showed up, so I texted him again, and he was completely on the other side of town! Rhodes (city) is fairly well laid-out, as long as you know where you are going to. It is flanked on 3 sides by water, so you can only go so far before you realize that you aren't where you are supposed to be! Eventually, about 12:50 he found me, and we tried some more to buy stuff, then gave up and had a light lunch.

We stopped by the Internet cafe on the way back to the hotel, but I swear it was hotter in there than it was outside! Wow! So we didn't stay long.

We stopped by Pappa L's shop to say Hi, and he said that Dr L was going to be by later to do some business, and we should come back then. So we went back to the hotel and sat in a quiet, fresh-and-breezy corner for 3 or 4 hours. I was reading and writing letters and Dave was doing problems in his engineering book. It was really a peaceful time -- not stressy or chaotic like usual before we travel.
(there are stray cats EVERYwhere in Greece.)

Dr L came by the hotel after a while, and we chatted for just a few minutes, but he had to go to a wedding that night, so...even though he would rather have hung out with us, he spent his evening in a suit and tie. Wow! It was so hot, I can't imagine having to wear a suit and tie in that weather!

We went to a new place for dinner, and found out that they had live, authentic music, so we sat down and ordered a glass of wine before we chose our dinner. No one was dancing to the music while we were there, but I can see how they would have been (maybe later, after they had more wine!) Dave and I had a very large plate with lots of different meats, and (of course) could not finish it all...which, I think, offended the waiter! :o) He must not be used to people leaving food on their plates! :o) Oh well. Dave, of course, had a scoop of pistachio ice cream for dessert. Good boy. So predictable. :0) I took a short video of the musicians - it's only about 8 seconds long becuase I didn't know how big the video would be. If you listen carefully you can hear the Greek music.


After that we walked along the beach for a while, and ended up back at the hotel for about another hour. It was probably 10:30 by then, so we gathered our luggage, and called a taxi to take us to the airport. Our flight left at 2:45 the next morning (Sunday), but we thought we'd feel more comfortable waiting at the airport so we could get checked in and ahead of the travel tour groups.

So we sat at the airport...me reading or writing, Dave with his new best friend, the engineering book. :o) Rhodes does not have the most well-equipped airport -- especially after 11:00 when all the shops close! What's a girl to do? I couldn't give my money away in the morning, and I couldn't give it away in the evening either! Darn! I guess Greece didn't want my monies! :o)

Our flight was uneventful, we slept a teeny tiny bit, and unfolded ourselves when we landed at London Gatwick. Our punishment for being eager beavers at the Rhodes Airport and getting in the check-in line first was that our luggage went onto the plane first. Which means, can you guess it? Means that our luggage came onto the baggage claim belt last. Grrrrrr. (Much practicing of the virtue: patience!)

We made it through all the rest of the doors and hallways, and found the lovely man who was our taxi driver home. Normally we take the train from Gatwick, but I wasn't about to do that this time! I was putting my flipped-flopped foot down! The train station in our town is about a mile away, which is not really a big deal to walk to. TO. From, however, is a different story. It's all up-hill. And I was not about to haul my luggage up-hill a mile at 7:45 in the morning! No. Stinkin. Way. Plus, our flight landed at 5:00 in the morning, but the trains don't start running till 6:00 or 7:00, so we would have had to wait. Considering all of that, I had told Dave before we left that we were going to take a taxi from Gatwick, and that was that. I didn't care how much money it was going to cost! Thankfully, Dr L is used to travelling, and he said that a taxi home from the airport was actually covered under the conference costs, and was a reimbursable offense, and he told Dave to do it!! Yay!! I could have hugged him!! Dr L, you rock! So, Taxi Man delivered us home at about 6:45. We hugged our kitties for a while, then pulled the curtains, and took a nap.

Alley wouldn't leave my side all day! We'd had house-sitters, so it's not like she didn't get any lovin' or attention, she just acted like she missed The Mamma. Sweet kitty.

We're still doing laundry, and the bags aren't entirely unpacked. And I haven't finished putting pictures up for each day, but I promise to do that. Please don't give up on me! Check back, okay?

So, with that, I leave you. Our final (for now) European Vacation is over. We are home. We are safe. Our hard-earned tans are fading. I have to cook and clean again. Dave is back to crazy hours. Yup, life is "normal" -- whatever that is! :o)

Hope you have a great week!

Rhodes -- Day 6 (Friday)

(The Lindos Acropolis)

It makes it a lot easier to remember which day of the trip we're on since we started our trip on the 1st! :o) I seriously have not had a clue what day it was this entire trip! Normally I'm okay, but this trip has been a jumble the entire time! Is it Sunday? Is it Monday? When is Tuesday? Now it's Saturday, but I wish it was Wednesday (...a few more days in Greece, get it?)

Friday. Well, we'd stayed out kinda late the night before, and I never was much of a party-girl, so when 9:00 came around, I didn't want to get up! But there was a rumble in my belly, and I knew I had to eat something, so we went down and had the hotel breakfast (which was very well-stocked!), then went back up to the room and fell asleep again! I don't know how late Dave slept, but I slept till about 1:00 in the afternoon and only got up because I knew that if I kept on sleeping, I'd sleep the whole day away! So, we got up, went across the street to Pappa L's shop and met Mrs. L. She's a typical Greek mother - her whole life revolves around her family, and her friends and neighbors. She's very sweet and caring. :o) They're good peeps. Dr L showed up shortly thereafter, and took us for a day-time drive. This time we went down to Lindos, which is about 30 miles south of the town of Rhodes. It is famous for its beaches, and for the Acropolis that is there. We took a picture of it, but it was 90* at the base of it, and you have to walk up...and we were thinking it would probably be more than 100* at the top, so we passed. Yes, I love sunshine. I would much rather be warm than cold...but a girl has her limits! :o) Maybe next time. :0)

(Dave and Mel in front of Lindos Acropolis)

After the Acropolis, we drove down to Dr L's favorite beach -- Tsambika Beach. This was a gorgeous beach! The sand was actually sand (and not grit), the water was warm and inviting, we were in a bay, so the waters were very calm. It was a warm afternoon, but we had umbrellas and sea water, so we were all fine. (Here's a picture of how much Dave was enjoying himself!)

We stayed for a couple of hours, then Dr L wanted to take us to his favorite hide-away: the Seven Springs. It's a "mountainous" region of the island of Rhodes, and it reminded Dave and me of Colorado. Very much so! There were pine trees everywhere, sparce open areas, and then, of course, the cold, spring water. Other than the strange language and the strange food...we felt like we were home! :o)

After that, we walked through a water tunnel about 500 meters long that is part of the drainage system for the spring water, but was built originally for the Italian troops that occupied the Island during WWII. They intended to use it as an escape route. Frankly, I hope the soldiers weren't much bigger than me, because there wasn't much room! And we were ankle deep in spring water the entire time! It was cold, but after the first minute or so, I was fine.

Then we drove back to our hotel and were supposed to go out with Dr L and his girlfriend for a drink. It was about 8:30, but by the time we got back to Pappa L's store (at 9:00), Dr L said that they were going to have to wait till after midnight to go out (why?!), and wondered if we wanted to wait that long! Heck No!! We decided to have some ice cream instead. Pappa L was so funny! At the mention of ice cream, he and Dr L had some words, then Pappa L hopped on his little scooter and raced off. Dave and I weren't sure what was going on! He came back about 10 minutes later with a little white bag filled with the yummiest ice cream I've had in a while!! I can't remember what they called it, but it was vanilla and had a Greek pastry blended in. It wasn't baklava, but it was close. And, boy oh boy was it good! Pappa L said he was going to get in trouble with the missus, but it was worth it! :o) We promised to hide the evidence.

After that we left Dr L to his midnight drinks, and we went to the Internet cafe for a little while, then back to our room for a good night's sleep.

We fly home tonight, and don't get into the airport in London until 4:50 am. That's A.M. :-( This does not make me happy! But I will just try to sleep on the plane, and sleep all day tomorrow when we get home! I promise to upload all the pictures from our trip tomorrow.

Have a great Saturday!

Kos to Rhodes -- Day 5 (Thursday)

Well, it didn't take me too long to fall behind, huh? :o)

We've just been on the go in Rhodes! Dave's advisor, Dr L, is from here, so when we haven't been on the beach, he's been driving us around showing us all the good stuff!

So, Thursday. We had an early wake-up call so we could catch the 8:20 ferry boat from Kos to Rhodes. This time, the ferry ride was uneventful. I sat on the top deck because it was too cold in the seating area because of the a/c. And although I put sunscreen on, I did get a little more pink on my shoulders and back than I thought I would! :-( It's not slowing me down, though! Along the way, we stopped to drop people off on Symi Island. I found it very beautiful! Have I mentioned that I love boats? And water? Mmm. And sunshine? :o)

When we got to Rhodes (2+ hours later), we walked across the street to the Central Taxi Terminal (along with 30 people from the ferry), and waited. And waited. And waited. Every so often, a taxi would come by, but not frequently enough to bring the waiting list down any! So I had what I thought was a bright idea...I called our hotel and asked them to call a taxi for us!! How's that for thinkin', eh? So they said to wait, the taxi was on it's way. We waited. And waited. We even let 3 or 4 empty taxis go because we were waiting for the taxi they had called for us! Thankfully, while we were waiting, we had a nice view of the gate to the Old Town of Rhodes.

Finally, after about 30 more minutes (we'd been outside in the heat of the day for the better part of an hour - at least there was shade), we decided to just take the first taxi that came along. And (of course) one didn't even drive by for 10 minutes! No amount of waving my arms and sticking my leg out in the street would work if no taxis came by!! But, finally, one came by. We felt bad because one had been called for us, but he never arrived, so there wasn't much we could do! But we also knew that we soon wouldn't care because we would be at our hotel! Yay!

We planned an afternoon on the beach, so we put our luggage in our room, went to say "Hi" to Dr L's father (who owns a camera/photo booth across the street from the hotel). Pappa L is a character! :o) He's really nice, and really funny. My tummy was grumbling for lunch, so we had to cut off our conversation with Pappa L until later. We stopped for lunch on the way to the beach, and then found two lovely deck chairs to spend the next couple of hours. This time it wasn't as nice as when we were in Kos. Although it was warm, there was a lot more wind, and the water was very choppy and cold. Dave went in, but I did not. I couldn't do it! :( Plus, someone needed to stay with our stuff! :o)

After that we went back to our hotel, showered, and relaxed a bit more. We wanted to walk to the Old Town of Rhodes (explained sorta-okay here), but wanted to let a little more of the day's heat dissipate before we started out. Then we started walking along the water, and came to the statues of the deer.

Allegedly, the Colossus of Rhodes (one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World) stood where the deer are now -- but only for 56 years! We walked on towards Old Town, and eventually found it. Old Town is very beautiful. Dave enjoyed it way more than I did, mostly because it was so old, and so well preserved. He thought it was cool to imagine living there 2000 years ago. :o) Again, I can't wrap my brain around something that old still standing!! :o) There was a lot of beautiful architecture, and just lots of beautiful features. Like the pebbles. The entire "floor" of Old Town was pebbles put sideways...so rather than being flat on their face, they were upright and skinny. I don't know why they did that, but in some places, they used different colored rocks to make designs. I'll put a picture in (one of these days!). I really loved the alleyways. They seemed to have so much character, and intrigue! People still live in Old Town (which surprised me!). Apparently the properties have been handed down for (probably) hundreds of generations! I would hate to live there with all the tourists, but then some people would say they would hate to live where I live! The thing that I found the most discouraging was that the inside of Old Town was just crowded with cheap stores. Tons and tons of cheap jewelry, knock-off purses and shoes, post-card shops, pottery shops, restaurants, bars, etc. I think someplace that beautiful should be preserved, but that's just my opinion!

We noticed quite a few of what appeared to be large concrete balls. We learned later that those were actually used in ancient times as projectile for a catapult. You can vaguely see them if you expand this photo, I think.

We did have dinner at a restaurant in Old Town, though. We had a glass of white wine, which I find sweeter than what we had in Italy or France, so that's a nice improvement! We haven't had Ouzo, yet, and I don't know if we will. I think I can live without it!

After dinner, we walked back to our hotel, and saw Dr L in his father's store. It was about 9:00, and he offered to take us on a driving tour of Rhodes and then for a drink. I was tired, but it doesn't take much energy to sit in a car, right? :o) So we drove around, and saw so much more than if he hadn't suggested it!! We drove to the top of a hill, and got to see Rhodes from above. Very nice! We were moving, though, so I didn't get any pictures. :-( We saw lots of other things, too -- neighborhoods, monuments, cheesy resorts, you know...the usual stuff that makes it a tourist town!!

Dr L took us back to Old Town for a drink, and we had to walk. A lot. You have to park outside of the walls, so we couldn't even get close. It was midnight by then, and I was seriously pooping out...but I kept walking, and talking, looking forward to a tall, cold Coca-Cola as a reward for my efforts! :o) We only stayed for half an hour, or so, then drove back to the hotel. As we were driving, Dr L got a call from his girlfriend who wanted to have him meet up with her and some friends. It was 1:30 by then, and even though Dr L invited us to go along, I knew I couldn't do it. Never was a party girl! We found out that he stayed out till 5:00. A.M. I am SO glad we didn't go along!! Whew! That would have ruined my day!!

I think that's it for Thursday! I don't know if I'll blog at all tomorrow, but I'll catch everything up on Sunday, I promise. For now, have a great weekend!

Flashback to Tuesday Night...

We're back in Rhodes, now, for the final 3 days of our vacation...except it's down to 2 now. :-(

Before I stray to where we are, I want to tell you about something the other night in Kos that I forgot to blog about.

On the main strip in Kos, there is a Mexican restaurant with a girl in a red/white/green "traditional" dress, a sombrero, and pink Crocs waving at passers-by and saying "Hola, come, eat" (in a Greek accent, of course). So Tuesday, the night I was going to meet Dave at the late reception, I decided to stop at El Paso Authentic Mexican Restaurant just for kicks. As I entered, I saw that most of the patrons were wearing straw sombreros. The decor was fairly authentic -- if you use movies and TV shows as your benchmark (as we all do)! I was seated, and I ordered una coca-cola, por favor, and I heard one of the waiters yell "Arriba! Ole! Ole!" at the top of his lungs, and I just had to laugh! They had an old 1800s wagon filled with hay, Corona boxes, and wagon wheels as accent pieces. They brought me a little box with what looked (and tasted) like Doritos, and a little bowl of Velveeta. Mmmmm. Tasty. Authentic. I decided to order light because I knew there would be food at the reception, so I just got a chicken quesadilla with rice and guacamole. Now if you've ever eaten Mexican food with me, you know I'm a bit of a guacamole snob. I cut my teeth on the best guac out there, and have yet to taste anything that even scratches the surface! Not surprisingly, this "guacamole" had a whole lot more sour cream in it than it had avocado (if it had any!). So, no points there. I'm also a bit of a cheese snob. Everything is better with cheese. Real cheese. Not imitation cheese. Not cheese that's not fit to call itself cheese. I prefer the kind of cheese that comes from a four-legged animal...not a powder. Double negative points for El Paso because the quesadillas had absolutely no real cheese in it. Not even one little shred. :-( I was very disappointed. :-( The waiters were very entertaining, though...so I guess that made up for it! They kept yelling Arriba! Oh, and whenever anyone had steak, they would set fire to it and yell really loudly! Hee hee! They were goofy. They also offered to dance to the Macarena with anyone willing, but, sadly, no one volunteered.

The best was when the sound system started to play a song about Speedy Gonzales that I've never heard before, but apparently it hit the top 10 in the 60s, and was written by Pat Boone! The waiters really got into that song, though. I'm not hi-tech enough to attach the song for you to listen to here, but if you click on this link, then it will either open up in a new window or go directly to the link, and there will be a skinny grey bar, and the old guitar will start to play. Hopefully I've done it right, and you'll be able to hear it. It's really hilarious!! Laugh-out-loud funny!! I can't believe I've never heard it before!! (Well, okay, yes, I can.) Honestly, what I can't believe is that it somehow made it to the Top 10! And just when I thought the fun was over, the waiters played it a second time! Hee hee! I think you'll be humming it all day long!

As I was leaving, I saw a statue of an old gringo, and knew I had to take that picture!

Kos Island -- Day 4 (Wednesday)

Happy July 4th to everyone!

We are in our last day in Kos. Dave is now officially on vacation. :o)

This morning we had a late start (planned it that way considering Dave's late end to yesterday!), we had breakfast in the hotel, and then he and Dr L went to the conference and I began planning my day around the best sunshine. I tried for a little while to tan on our balcony, but as the Earth was rotating, my little patch of sunshine kept getting smaller and smaller, so I had to give it up. :( I really liked being so close to my stuff, and having the peace and quiet of being alone. Oh, well. We all have to make sacrifices, right? So then I got dressed and went to the shop down the street to get a Coke and buy our ferry tickets back to Rhodes for Thursday morning. As I was out, though, I realized that I didn't have my Visa card! After a moment of panic, I remembered that the last time I'd used it was yesterday in a store up the street where I bought Dave a watch. I quickly went back to the store, and I showed the man my ID and told him that I'd left it there. He said he had scolded his father for not giving it back to me yesterday! :( Poor guy! They don't use/accept Visa in very many places here, so I was surprised that the man took it yesterday in the first place...and for his son to get mad at him for not giving it back to me made me feel bad! :( It was my fault, my responsibility, not his! What surprised me even more, though, was how he planned to deal with it if I didn't return! He said he was going to give it to the police and ask them to try to find me! How could they have done that? I suppose the police can find out lots of things, but I was just really surprised! I expected him to have called Visa and turned it in as lost, and them to cancel it! Oh, well, crisis averted. I guess that's one of the many good things about being in such a small place. :o)

I bought the tickets for our ferry, and went back to the hotel. This time (rather than walking 15+ minutes to the not-so-friendly beach), I decided to try out the pool at our hotel.

Here's my current favorite recipe:
1. Slather 1/4 - 1/2 cup of sunscreen to pasty-white skin.
2. Place in warm, but breezy location.
3. Bake, flipping every 10 minutes for even browning.
4. Rinse periodically.
5. Relax.

Enjoy! :0)

So, I spent about 2 hours by the hotel pool, then went up to the room to get ready to go to Dave's presentation. After my shower, I found that they were showing the 1995 BBC version of Sense and Sensibility, and I was sucked in! Unfortunately, I didn't get to the end (who does Elinor marry?!) (Who does Marianne marry?) because I had to leave to get to Dave's presentation. Dang, I'll just have to read the book! :(

I got there in plenty of time, and heard him give his presentation. Maybe I'm biased, and I only heard 2 other presentations, but I think he sounded like he knew what he was talking about, and presented his paper very well. He was very astute and didn't leave much time for questions (you know, leave 'em hungry for more...), and after he sat down, he put his arm around me and said "My vacation starts...now." :o) Good for him! He deserves to melt like I have been!

We left the conference center and put our stuff back at the hotel, and then ventured off for the evening. Our first stop was a celebratory Pistachio Shake for Dave (and a chocolate shake for me). Then we went to Hippocrates's Tree and took pictures. Hippocrates was born in Kos.

Next we wandered to the internet cafe, and I can't write much more because I'm actually real-time! :0) I've never blogged real-time on vacation before! Gosh! I better quit while I'm ahead! :0)

We're gonna go find some grub now, and then we take an early ferry to Rhodes tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures. Regardless, I'll be taking lots.

Oh, and I'll protect my money while on the ferry. :0)

Have a great day!

Here's Dave enjoying his 8th or 9th bowl of Pistachio ice cream in about 4 days. Gotta love him, he's so predictable. Never one to waste time learning facts and information that will come in handy someday, he knows how to say "thank you" and "pistachio" in Greek.

Kos Island -- Day 3 (Tuesday)

It was a chaotic start to the day because Dave overslept, but it was okay for me as I didn't have anything to do for the day except soak up some sun!

I didn't waste time getting to the home store, though, in search of a washcloth. Desperate to wash my face and ears, I very brokenly explained that I wanted a very small towel, and found what I call a fingertip towel, and was more than happy to use that! I also spent some time admiring their home dec fabrics. I love fabric. They thought I was strange. :o) I have no shame.
Next I went to the post office. In every other country I've been to, you stand in line at the door and go up to the counter of 4-5 staff members...but this was different, much more civilized. When you enter, you take a number and then take a seat till your number is called! Nice! So, I got my postcard stamps, and then sent them all off.

Here's a photo of a cathedral I passed. I really loved the colors that I saw in Greece. I think I've mentioned it - but everything was so vibrant and alive...a nice improvement to the colors I've seen lately in England (i.e., dark, grey, bland).

Next it was off to the Internet cafe. I had some good time writing the blog and sending emails. :o) But before I was ready to be done, I got a text from Dave saying he and his advisor (Dr L) were back at our hotel and were getting ready to go to the beach -- so I quickly closed up shop and hurried to meet them. Even though the water is gorgeous, and the sun is warm, and the breeze is refreshing...the actual beach wasn't that nice. There were smaller than small pebbles (or larger than large grains of sand, whichever way you want to look at it), and lots of very thin, dried seaweed "leaves". They are tons of deck chairs and umbrellas that are owned by the restaurants on the beach. Basically you just have to buy a drink and you get to sit on the deck chair as long as you want.

We sat under the umbrella for a little bit just adjusting to the heat, and then Dave decided to go for a swim. He says the water was nice, but when I went in later, I remembered that he's looney toons, because it was a lot colder than I expected! I only went to my belly button, and had to turn back! But we had plenty of sunscreen, and we adjusted our umbrella so we were in the sun, and we just relaxed and relaxed and relaxed some more. Neither one of us sunburned (which is important!) Dr L got a pretty crispy sunburn on Monday, so he stayed in the shade except for one or two swims. Maybe if I'd had a floatilla-floatie I would have been able to sustain the cold water...but, alas, I do not.

We left the beach about 3:00 because Dave and Dr L wanted to go to the conference and see some other presentations, so I agreed to come and meet them later at the reception (and finish my internet time). There are 1500 people at this conference, presenting over 3 days, so there are quite a few different things going on at any given moment. Dave also had some work to do on his presentation, so he took his laptop along and worked towards finishing. We passed this little dinghy on the way back to the hotel. Most of the boats in the water were very expensive...but this was a nice contrast to the commercialism and materialism we saw that day.

We met up at 9:00 for the reception. I'm surprised I found him at all! It was dark, and there were just tons and tons of people there! I know Dave was hoping to see and re-connect with people from previous conferences or from his Master's, but it was impossible to find people. We did sit and talk with a couple people from Georgia Tech, though. And they had a great time reminiscing. We caught a taxi back to our hotel at about 10:00, and he then pulled out his laptop and got back to work. He had to run simulations and build plots and finish his Powerpoint slides. He didn't come to bed until really late. Really late. :( Poor guy.

When I went back to the room, I tried to find a movie, or something good on TV, but there just wasn't much, so I started the second book I brought along. It's not nearly as good as the one I finished. I promise to tell you about it in a different blog entry, so I won't ruin it here. :o)

Not as exciting as Day 2, I guess, but that's our life!

Kos Island -- Day 2 (oh, and Turkey!)

The fact that it was Monday was a little hard to reconcile, so most of the day I was confused (well, okay, I'm confused most of every day...but more so on Monday!)

Dave found out that there wasn't anything for him to do at his conference, so we debated about what to do, and since Bodrum, Turkey is about 2o miles away, we thought "Heck, one more stamp on the passport? Sure! Let's do it!"

We knew the boat left at 9:15, and planned to stop at McD's on the way to grab some breakfast. We split up. Divide and conquer, you know? Dave to get the tickets, me to conquer McD's. Much to my dismay, though. They were closed! Till 10:30! Excuse me? I almost took a photo of it! A McD's closed at 9:00 in the morning! :( It was a sad moment for me. (We all know I can never be too far from my next meal!) So I hurried to the boat, and winked at the ticket taker so he would wait for me to run to a sandwich shop and grab the first two sandwiches I saw! I made it back to the boat in time, and we started to chow. Dave was very pleased with my choice, but I wasn't. It was okay. It was sustenance. That was all. (Dave in front of our boat).

We sat in the lounge for a few minutes, then went up to the top deck. We didn't go quite as fast as Sunday...and I had my money stored in a slightly safer location, thank you very much. But it was still windy. Dave was laughing at my sideways hair, and took a photo for you. It was warm. And there was a breeze. That's the best. I love boats. I think the boat trip was about 80 minutes, so we had plenty of time to melt and watch the scenery go by. At one point, as I was sitting on the white bench, I looked down and couldn't quite tell where the bench ended and my legs began! :o)

The colors are SO vibrant here! The sun. The water. Everything! Just amazing! I took lots and lots of pictures. Dave doesn't often man the camera, but here's a shot he took of me with the sun high above.

We docked in Bodrum, and decided to take a "free" bus tour. Yeah, yeah, I know. Nothing is ever free...especially in a tourist-town! We knew that there would be some ploy to buy something, but I am a well-heeled shopper and know how to NOT buy things, too. (Although I don't exhibit restraint as often as I should, perhaps!) So the bus took us to quite a few ancient places, and we saw some ancient statues, and learned about the history of modern Turkey...and ended up at a jewelry "factory" (read: store with a few guys out front doing stuff). :o) As we were walking through, a salesman struck up a conversation with us, asking us where we're from (kinda tricky...where do we live? Where are we from? Hmmm...) But he was nice, and he told us he has a close friend that lives in Denver, and found out that he's a Christian...which isn't very common in Turkey (which is 99% Muslim), and certainly not something that random salesmen in a jewelry store would boast about! So that was cool! It was worth the stroll around the diamonds. :o)

We met a couple of Americans on our bus, though, that were here for the same conference as Dave. The guy teaches at Carnegie-Mellon University, and she works with the Peace Corps in Albania. We had great conversations about lots of things. After lunch with Julia and Bill, we walked back to our boat, and passed by some very ancient archaeological sites.

The history here is beyond my comprehension. I know I've said that before, but seriously! This has been a civilized city for over 2000 years! So was Rome, I know...but I still get to be shocked, don't I!? It's still really cool! :o)

We went back to our boat having only purchased food and water...too bad for the Turkish National Economy, eh? :o) We sat in the air-conditioned lounge for a little while, but it quickly filled up with little old Greek women. I guess they go over to Turkey because things are so much cheaper there? (In quality and cost) I wonder if it was an organized group because they all had to show each other their purchases, and try on each other's coats, and sunglasses. And they kept talking. Louder. And louder. And in such a shrill high-pitched frequency! Holy Cow! I got a headache very quickly. Oh, and we were sitting on a long bench, and they just kept sitting closer, and closer, and closer to me. You know how people do it when they want to annoy you? Inch by inch? Yeah. That's what was happening. Frankly, I don't think the A/C had a chance over all that hot air! :o) So we decided to go to the middle deck. Still got a breeze, but there was a tarp to block the sun. It was much more pleasant up there. Until we were hit by a huge wave! Huge!! I had my eyes closed, so it was all feeling for me...but I felt the boat kinda stop, then heard squeals at the same moment that my right side got slightly-more-than sprinkled with sea water. We weren't sitting on the edge, thankfully. They got SOAKED!! It was really funny! Like the log-ride at Six Flags, only better! :o)

Eventually we got back to Kos, and stood in line at Passport Control for quite a while because, even though we got off the boat first, the little old ladies pushed their way to the front of the line. All 400 hundred of them. (Okay, slight exaggeration). We made it through, bid adieu to Bill and Julia, and slowly wandered back to our hotel.

Dave's advisor is staying at the same hotel (we'll call him Dr. L), and he was in the lobby working on his laptop when we got back. He said he was hungry, but we wanted to freshen up, so we agreed to meet back in the lobby in 45 minutes. He's Greek, so he said he wanted to take us somewhere for really good Greek food. Who are we to argue, right? :o)

When we got back downstairs, he had a small business-card sized map from our hotel to the restaurant...and we set out. We walked in circles. Seriously. No offense intended, but I think that's the last time I give an engineer a map! :o) Hee hee! We came across the Roman Odeum, though. (See photo below). We also walked by some random ruins. Dr L explained that it often happens that a company will buy some land, and start digging only to discover that there are ruins buried. Then they have to call the archaeological authorities to determine if there is anything valuable, or if it should be protected, etc. And if so, it just sits there! Since then, I've seen a lot of fenced off lots that appear to have old Roman and Greek ruins covered with grass and weeds and wildflowers! Unfathomable to me!

We finally got to the restaurant, and Dr L did all the ordering. He ordered appetizers, and then the main course, for each of us, but we kinda shared it all around. Oh, and then dessert. I'm still in a sugar coma! All of it was very very very good, but he kept saying "It's not the best. It's not the best." So, in an effort to quiet him, I said "Well, you've had a lot more opportunities to eat really good Greek food. We haven't. To us, this was really good!" That seemed to work. :o)

Now. Okay. Even though that was pretty much it for the night, I have to share something I've found rather disconcerting. I apologize in advance if I offend anyone. Or disgust you. That's your warning. Okay. All modesty aside. I've peed in toilets on 4 different continents, now (I get to count Asia, thanks to a short trip to Bodrum! Woo hoo!). Right. Back to the story. Greece (and Turkey) are not considered developing countries, but the plumbing situation must have room for improvement, because everywhere we've gone, there have been signs that say "Please do not flush the toilet paper, put it in the trash bin provided." Even in our hotels! I'm kinda shocked. And as a (former) microbiologist, I really don't like it! I know the toilet paper is in the bin, but EW! Ew and ew and ew and ew!! We had to do that in Ecuador, but that's a developing country! I have enough trouble pee-ing in public toilets because they are often unsanitary, but when thinking that no one has flushed the paper that is evidence of their, um, efforts, really bugs me! No, it doesn't often stop me, but I sure as heck don't like it! Ew! It can't be sanitary!! Alright. Rant over.

That's it for Monday! (I think it was Monday. I'm still not sure!) More about Tuesday later!
Bye!

London to Rhodes -- Day 1...or is it 2?

Well, we knew we had a late flight out of Gatwick, but instead of seeing the sunset in Rhodes on Saturday night, we saw the sunrise from the airport as we arrived a number of hours late. :o) Considering what some other air travelers were going through on Saturday (because of the bombing in Glasgow), we got off pretty easy! I was completely content, however, because I was reading a very good book that I'm sad to be done with! I'll tell you about it later. It's a good one!!

Anyways, we arrived in Rhodes at about 6:00 am, and decided to go ahead and take our hotel room from the night before because we could at least take a nap and have a shower and have some place to put our luggage. We knew we were only in Rhodes one day (for now), then off to Kos Island that night. We're in Kos for 3 days, then back to Rhodes for 3 more.

So, we slept for about 4 hours, and got up at 10:30. The room was nice enough, not huge, but well equipped. Honestly, being a card-carrying cheapskate, I wasn't sure about spending €40 for a nap and a shower! But...once I got into the shower, I was glad for it..and willing to spend more! :o) Besides, I hadn't showered in a day, and I had been in close company with 200 of my closest friends, so a shower was definitely on the menu! I realized, however, when I got out, that I had forgotten to bring a wide-toothed comb or a brush along at all. I mean, we all forget something, right? But a wide-toothed comb is a necessity for me! I've got really ratty hair, that mats up quickly -- especially after washing! Dave, bless him, volunteered his comb for me to use. It's a boy's comb, you know? It's the kind that could impersonate a bookmark. I've broken hair-brushes in my hair before! And this little flimsy piece of plastic is supposed to tame the medusa on my head? Crazy! So, I apologized in advance for breaking his comb and promised to buy him a new one. :o) I took my time, though, and eventually combed through my hair without breaking the comb, but I decided to go for the crazy/wavy look for the day. :o)


Here's a picture from our Rhodes hotel balcony. If you look closely, you can see a teeny tiny bit of water to the left of my right ear.


I also forgot the cardinal rule of European hotels...no face-cloths! They don't have them! Anywhere! At all! I mean, seriously! How do they expect me to wash my face and ears? You can't get into the grooves without one! :( So, for now, I'm just winging it! I haven't had the chance, yet, but I see a home store across from our Kos hotel, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a washcloth! :o)




After all that fuss, we left our hotel and walked down to the beach (Called Windy Beach...cuz that's what it is!. It's about 2 blocks away. We were scoping out all the good food options on our walk. There were many many options. :o) We were probably extra hungry considering our last meal was about 18 hours ago! We made it to the beach, and the view was gorgeous! We took one of us on the beach, and then I was going to take a picture of the scenery, and just in the millisecond that I was pushing the shutter button down, I realized that there was something in the frame that I didn't particularly want. Here's the conversation, as I quickly whipped my camera around:

Me: OH! She doesn't have a top on!!

Dave: Yeah.

Me: Yeah?

Dave: Yeah, I thought you knew that.

Me: No! I don't want a picture of a woman without her bikini top on!

Dave: Well, we're in Europe. I'm not surprised.

Me: Okay, sure. But I still don't want a picture of it!

Hee hee. (no photo of that, thank you very much!)

We left the beach, and walked down the other side of the street to drool over more food options, and eventually pick one. Now, if you know Dave at all, you know he's a punster. He's a jokester. And I just groan. He also loves Greek food. (so do I!). So for days now, he's been saying "I want to have a gyro!" (Pronounced yoorow). So as we sat down, he said (for the millionth time) "I'm gonna pay Euros for a gyro! Hee hee! Get it?" (goober!)

It was very good. And I was very full. And happy. I totally felt like I was melting. It was AWESOME!!!! The weather in England has been cold and pathetic and dreary and cold and damp and rainy and cold. And life in general has been kinda stressy. So, here I am. There's sun. There's sand. There's sea-salty air. There's warm beachy breezes. I'm melting! It's great!

So after lunch, we went back to the back garden behind our hotel, and Dave pulled out his engineering book while I pulled out my reading book, and we both chilled out for a couple of hours until the ferry to Kos Island was leaving. It was really good. My tootsies were seeing sunshine for the first time in about 11 months, I think. Happy tootsies! Dave was doing math problems, oh, sorry, engineering problems, and being so proud of himself when he would check his answers in the back of the book. Hee hee...once a geek, always a geek! :o)

We found our way to the Kos Island ferry, paid our fare, and boarded the boat (along with quite a few other people, a truck filled with stinky-fish, and about 48 motorcycles! Thankfully the cabin was air-conditioned. It would have been a nearly-unbearable 2-hour trip if it weren't! After we left the dock, I went to the very top deck, and walked to the front. The views were stunning! I love boats. And water. And warmth. We were going pretty fast (not sure how many knots, but it had to be quite a few!), I have a picture of me on the top. You can tell by my hair that it was pretty powerful up there!


The funniest thing that has happened so far, though, happened at this point. Before I had gone up to the top deck, I had asked Dave for some money to get us some waters. He gave me €5, and since I wasn't carrying a purse up to the top deck, and my cute dress had no pockets, I thought I better figure out a good place for my money. Well, frankly, there is often a little bit of extra room in my bra, so I thought that was a fine place for the money! :o) The money was fine, and well-placed until I was leaving the top deck. As I turned around, the wind was (obviously) at my back, and, well, I don't really know how to explain it, but my dress puffed out with all the wind from behind me, and, I guess, some of that wind came through the extra space in my bra, and caught the €5 note, and whisked it away! Hee hee! It happened so fast that the €5 was off the back of the boat before I was even sure what had happened! I think a few people saw a piece of paper fly by them, but they didn't know (a) that it was a €5 note, nor that (b) it came from a not-so-safe place tucked into my bra. Hmph. So much for "well-fitting", huh? :o) So, I had to sheepisly go and ask Dave for more money. We laughed and laughed about that! I guess I know better, huh?

The two hours passed quickly, and we got to Kos at about 5:30. We made our way to our hotel (picture above is of the harbor from our balcony), and put our stuff down, then Dave wanted to check in to his conference (at a conference center supposedly not too far from us). We asked at the front desk how far the conference center was, since it wasn't on our map. She said "Oh, it's about 3 kilometers." And I said to Dave "Okay, well, that's less thank 2 miles, so I think we can walk it...but I would really like to have a snack somewhere along the way." So we headed out. I thought the walk would be fine in the shoes I was wearing. That was my second mistake of the day! We walked. And we walked. And we walked. And we walked faster and faster because Dave was afraid they would close the registration. Which meant to me that we were not likely to stop for a snack. And the thin little straps on my cute flip-flops began to rub against my sensitive, protected-by-socks-for-the-last-11-months tootsies, and I began to complain. But we figured we must be getting close, based on how long we'd been walking...so we kept at it!

And we kept walking. Until I could take it no more. I stopped at "Jimmy's Market", and, much to my dismay, I found out that the conference center was "about 3 kilometers away." Again! More! I threw up my hands in defeat, and we found a bus stop. Once the bus came, my tootsies were happy again. We got there, Dave registered, and we headed back to town. We learned something strange to me, though. You can't hail a taxi here! You have to phone the main office, and they send someone out for you! I suppose we could have gone back to the conference center from the bus stop, but we kept believing that the bus was going to come along any minute now. Any. Minute. Now. :o) Ugh. Still hungry. Feet still hurt. Getting cranky. The bus finally came at about 8:15, and we got into town at 8:30. Dave really wanted to drop his stuff off at the hotel, and I really wanted to put band-aids on my three new friends, The Blister Family. :-( So, we got ourselves fixed up, and we went to dinner. Finally. At about 9:00. I know, I know, that's the Greek way...but it's not MY way! And I was hungry. And tired. And suffering from a severe case of hypoglycrabia. Completely non-human! But we found a nice Greek restaurant, Dave had a pistachio shake for his appetiser (I should have, too!), and another gyro plate for dinner. I had pork souvlaki. It was very nice. I ate sooooo much food! I was so full my tummy hurt! Ever go that far? Ugh! :o) It took about 30 or 40 minutes, but I started to feel human again. :o) The restaurant is built around a 100-year-old tree. It was cool! I think it was a ficus. The trunk was all gnarly, winding around itself. Cool!

After we finished gorging ourselves, we walked along the harbor. It was really beautiful because all the boats are lit up at night. Very cool. We walked back to our hotel, and crashed!

Sleep, glorious sleep.

It's all Greek to me!

(You knew I had to do it. I had to say it! Sorry.)

Seriously, though. I'm really struggling with blogging here in Kos today because the entire screen is in Greek! The keyboard (thankfully!) is in the standard Latin letters, so I can type okay, but I have no clue what all the other words on the screen say!! :o) Very freaky!
So...may I apologize in advance for deleting your comments on accident! I just can't read the words that tell me to publish or delete! :( Special apologies to Ali and Aunt Coleen...just in case!

Okay, then. Now that I'm completely out of my element! :o) I'll try to do the same thing as I did when we were in Italy and blog about each day...although I'm already a be a few days behind! Well, that should be no surprise, right? I'm NEVER on time!! :o) Hah!

So, hope you enjoy the updates - we're having a lot of fun. And be sure to check back often because I don't know how regularly I'll be able to add pictures, but man, oh, man, I'm taking a ton, and each one is more gorgeous than the first!

Hope you are well.
Love,
Melissa