Friday, November 30, 2007

Greek Island Cruise Pictures


FINALLY! It's picture time. It would have been nice if I could have attached pictures as we went along on the cruise, however, since I couldn't, here are a few I took. My camera was on it's last leg (and now in the trash) so a lot of my pictures didn't come out!! GRRR! Time to look for a new camera!

VENICE


St Marks Basilica









Canal














Jack and Sue Waddick
















Croatia

Dubrovnik










Jack & Sue, Al & Jo at restaurant outside of Dubrovnik where we tasted dried figs and wine that tasted like Drano!















Corfu
Corfu Town




Overlooking Corfu














Sounion and Athens

Jo in front of the Parthenon
Suzi at Cape SoUnion, Posedions Temple




















Mykonos I Love this place!!!!

Jack & Sue, St. John's Beach







Windmills used for grinding barley



















Mykonos Town


















Kusadasi, Ephesus - Turkey


Ephesus Kusadasi
















Rhodes

Where the Colossus of Rhodes stood, maybe Jack and Sue





















My knight in shining armor and AL



Santorini
Since our tour of Santorini was cancelled due to weather, this is all we saw! Instead of touring we went and had lunch in the dining room!















Naples, Italy and Pompeii

Naples at sunrise Naples Traffic!!!




























Galleria Pompeii


Since Blogger has outsmarted me before, I take no responsibility if these pictures get screwed up during publishing!!! :-)

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Holy Cow...or Bull in this case

Nov. 25 Tucson

Yesterday I sent Al to the grocery store for a few items. Now, those of you who know Al really well know that this may turn into an all day outing and with him returning with several more items than what was on the list. Yesterday was no exception. However, he had a story to tell as well.

Apparently while he was shopping in our local grocery store near the house he had a strange encounter with a ...bull? Our area is still fairly "country" and is still a free range area. Yesterday while in Basha's store, a free range bull decided to do some grocery shopping! Al said he was in the back of the store near the meat counter when an announcement was made for all shoppers to go to the back of the store. Al, being ever curious, went to the front of the store (he doesn't follow directions well) and lo and behold, there was a bull in the store and the store employees were trying to get him out! The bull had been in the parking lot earlier and decided to walk up to the store, where he tripped the automatic doors and he decided a little shopping was in order! Al said the bull was really having a hard time walking on those slippery floors and he was scared as well (probably had seen his mom in the meat counter!!) and he was having a hard time staying upright and getting out of the store. After a few minutes, he finally sauntered outside. And that, my friends, ain't no bull!

We had our Thanksgiving feast yesterday. Ugh..I am still stuffed. Dick and Lano are still here, Jack and Suzi were here along with Cortney, Holly, Bruce and their nephew Wyatt and our good friend Bob Grabow. All were sufficiently full by 8:00 p.m. Lano and I cooked dinner as usual, I don't know if I can do a turkey dinner without her here anymore, we have done them together for the past 5 or so years and always have fun doing them. We did the normal turkey, dressing, (not stuffing Cortney) mashed taters, gravy, sweet potato pie, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, cranberries, etc. Now tonight will be a repeat since our refrigerator is also STUFFED!

Stay tuned for more adventures and maybe some cruise pictures tomorrow!

Friday, November 23, 2007

HOME and Happy Turkey Day (the bird, not the country!)

Tucson, AZ
Nov. 23
Ah, yes, home again. We both love to go, but we both love to come home as well.

Nov. 21
We were up and off the ship by 6:00 a.m. It was cold and windy when we disembarked and headed for the bus that would take us to Rome from CIVITAVECCHIA, which is the sea port for Rome and about 70 miles from the airport.

Arriving at the airport with piles of luggage, very little sleep and hoards of people. UGH! Finally got checked in for our flight, got our luggage checked in and up we go to wait for our flight for 3 hours. Suzi and I checked out the shops around the gate, like Valentino, Gucci, etc...you get the idea. We had some Euro's to spend, however, not enough to spend in those shops! I wound up bringing some Euro's home...figured they could be seed money to return to Venice and Naples someday!

While waiting for our flight a family arrived with eight children for our flight. We all groaned, way too many kids! As it turned out , this was a Navy family, and those eight children were the best behaved children we have ever seen. The oldest was 17 and the youngest was 1, and they all helped each other (well, with the exception of the baby). What a neat family.

Flight to Chicago was uneventful, just a very long 10 hours. Arriving in Chicago we had to walk a long distance from the plane to the U.S. Customs/Immigration area. Al finally said he couldn't walk any further, so we found a cart to take us the rest of the way. I am sure Jack and Suzi were getting tired of waiting for us! We all cleared customs with ease, boarded the tram to the domestic terminal and found our selves with very little time to get to our next gate. The lines for security were LONG, however, with Al in a wheelchair, we were put at the front of the line and after clearing security we raced for our flight. I decided in the middle of the race to have an asthma attack....now, I have had exactly one of these before in my life and decided at that point I never wanted one again! Well, the asthma demons were after me....I could barely breath as we raced for our flight. Once I got on the plane I was gasping for air, but after calming down for a while the attack seemed to abate and I slept the entire flight from Chicago to Phoenix. And I must say, O'Hare was a nightmare on Wednesday, and especially since snow was expected and it was sleeting while we were there.

Upon arriving in Phoenix we claimed our luggage (except for one piece of Jack and Suzi's which decided to go home with someone else -- someone picked up their garment bag by mistake, which was corrected and returned later that night). So all in all, we all felt very lucky that we were 1. in Phoenix instead of missing our flight in Chicago; 2. Had all of our luggage and 3. it was warm in Phoenix. All four of us were tired (well, except for Suzi, she slept most of the way from Rome to Chicago) and somewhat hungry. After checking in at the hotel we went out to find something to eat....now, I have to tell you Denny's is not my restaurant of choice, but that is the first one we found that night and decided that since they were open we were going to eat there and then call it a night.

Nov. 22
Al and I are up at 5:30 a.m.......still on Italy time I guess. We decided since we weren't able to sleep to head home. We left Jack and Suzi a note and headed for Tucson. We got home about 10:00 Thanksgiving morning. Dick and Lano had came over the day before so we were greeted with 3 dogs (our two and their one) and two cats....all trying to tell us about their two weeks at once! I do believe the cats had more to say than the dogs. We lazed around all day yesterday just trying to stay awake. We are doing our Thanksgiving on Saturday, so we cooked a beef roast and called it a day. Al and I were in bed by 8:30 p.m.!

Nov. 23
Up today and raring to go. Al and Dick took off to do some running around looking for ammo and Al went to pick up his new gun that he won last month. Lano and I did some shopping and a Costco run. We just knew Costco would be a madhouse, however, we were very surprised to find that it wasn't. I think everyone was at the mall today.

So we are home from our wonderful cruise and trying to recover so we can go again in April. We had a great time, saw a lot and still trying to absorb it all. I will get to the pictures hopefully sometime this next week and post a few for the blog.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day and are lots of turkey! Triptofan will visit us tomorrow!

Until next time..............we hope you are all happy and healthy.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Naples, Italy....ah..........Pompeii

Nov. 20...........Naples, Italy
Ah, Naples! I have found another city I love...guess I will just have to come back to Italy and stay for a month or more so I can see everything I want to.

Yesterday was a day at sea. It started out as a very ROUGH day at sea...lots of wrockin' and wrollin'. However, by noon it seemed to calm down. Suzi and I decided to go play Bingo. Now, I never win at Bingo, but yesterday I broke my record and won the big jackpot of $300! Of course someone else won as well, a lady from Scottsdale, Az so we split the pot...but I won!!! Suzi had done well at the slots the night before, so we were feeling pretty cocky! Yesterday afternoon we went back to Bingo...let's just say I left some money there. Suzi entered the Slots tournament and left her share of money there...our good luck streak was over apparently. Also yesterday was the Susan G Komen Walk for the Cure at Sea...I registered and donated, but didn't walk as my right knee is giving me some real problems and I wanted to save it for our tour today. Last night was our last formal night....and lobster night. I probably wouldn't have gone to the formal night if the lure of lobster hadn't been there!

Today we toured Naples (Napoli) and Pompeii. Al stayed on board again as his ankles were swelling again and since we have a long day ahead tomorrow with a LONG flight he decided to stay and keep his legs up all day.

Ah....Naples. Oh, I said that didn't I? Ah...Napoli! What a city. We started out on the bus going to Pompeii. How interesting can it be? Pompeii just boggled our minds. On the way we saw Mt. Vesuvius as well. Pompeii dates back to 7th century BC.....uh huh...BC. It's still hard for me to understand how old things are. Anyway, Pompeii was pretty much destroyed by an earthquake in 62 AD and reconstruction began immediately afterwards. However, Mt. Vesuvius had other ideas and on Aug 24, 79 (that would be 79AD, Not 1979) Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii under ash and rock. It was rediscovered in the 16th century, but exploration did no begin until 1748 and continued into the 19th century. It truly is an ancient city and very fascinating. We toured the shops/homes/red light district/theater and of course the temples. The streets are cobblestone, and you can still see chariot ruts in the roads.

From Pompeii we went to a Cameo factory. Did you know cameo's were made from sea shells...mostly conch! I learned that today...I also learned I couldn't afford to buy any of the cameo's! OUCH.

From there we went to lunch. We ate a at true Italian Pizza place and it was heavenly. Salad, pizza, wine (not for me, but Jack and Suzi had some) dessert and coffee! Oh, the coffee...WOW..it about knocked my socks off...all three of us will probably be awake for days. Coffee here isn't like coffee in the USA. It comes in a tiny cup and there isn't enough sugar to make it sweet enough...yeow!

From lunch we went on a city tour of Napoli. I did fall in love with this city. It is so beautiful. It was built originally by the Greeks, and as our tour guide said, most of Italy was originally Greek. Then we headed for the Royal Palace and the Galleria. The Galleria is an enclosed shopping mall...but not like any you have every seen. Yes, it is old, but it is absolutely beautiful. It has a glass dome over the center of it...and the ceilings and walls are all decorated as well. The Royal Palace is now a museum and very luxurious. The ceilings in most of the rooms had paintings on them and I spent most of my time looking up!

Traffic here is another story altogether. Holy smokes! Yeow! First of all, we can't complain about our gas prices...gas here is around $6.00 a gallon. Of course, if ours keeps going up we will be paying that soon. The traffic here is almost unexplainable. There are tons of motorcycles, which the drivers apparently don't value their lives as they cut in front of big buses (Ours) or between big buses (Ours) and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the traffic patterns...cars are going any which way and one way streets don't seem to mean much to them, nor does the traffic dividers! And crossing a street on foot (which we did) is like taking your life in your hands! Aye! I was sitting in the front of the bus today and I know more than once I thought we would run over someone or someone would run over us! And their cars here are small....I saw a lot of the SMART cars (which I like) and I understand they are very sturdy, however, they are so small I think one would be crushed at home in an accident. However, here usually an accident in town is minor since you can't go very fast! And I thought Seattle had traffic problems!

So now our cruise is down to the last day. Tonight we sail for Rome, tomorrow we have to be up at 4:30 a.m. to get ready to disembark at 6:00 a.m. and then transfer from the ship to the airport in Rome which is about an hour and half from the port. From there we will board American Airlines and head for Chicago; then to Phoenix. All of us are concerned about the nightmare at O'Hare the day/night before Thanksgiving. Also, we only have 2 hours between flights at O'Hare and we are thinking we may not have enough time if we have to clear Customs there, so we are hoping we can pre-clear US Customs in Rome (Bob Stone where are you??) and then just have to clear immigrations in Chicago.

So until we are home..........arrviderci from Italy...the Wroamin' Wraspirs and Waddicks.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Santorini --the UNTOUR

Aboard the Star Princess, anchored off Santorini
Nov 18

We were jolted awake early this morning by what sounded like a bomb going off! WTH? I was standing up beside the bed before I was fully awake! I stumbled to the sliding door and opened the drapes and we were having a great light show...yes, my friends, thunder and lightning. The weather gods had been good to us up to this point, however, they were telling us it may be coming to an end. Denise, Sherrie and Jennifer, all I can say is remember the thunder in Lugano? Nuff said. I left the drapes open and went back to bed, fully intending to watch the lightning, however, the sleep gods took over very quickly and I missed the rest of the light show.

Later we had a leisurely morning, trying the omelet bar on board...not such a good idea! Our tour of Santorini was scheduled for noon. The weather was a little cool, clouds off in the distance and very windy. We were going to have to tender in to port and it did look a little rough. When we were in line to board the tender the captain came on the loudspeaker and cancelled all shore leaves for the crew. Ohoh, this didn't sound good. A few minutes later he cancelled the remaining tours and stopped all disembarktion from the ship to the tenders. Apparently it was more than a little rough and the tenders were having a hard time at the port, so now all they wanted to do was get the people that were on the island back to the ship safely. DARN...we really were looking forward to seeing this island. But, it does give us a reason to come back, right?

We took our disappointed selves to the dining room for lunch. Frankly, I am sick of eating. I think the rest of the group is beginning to feel the same way. And to me, all of the food is beginning to taste the same.....guess the cruise is winding to an end. All I want now is fruit and salads.

This afternoon Al read, Suzi and I did laundry and Jack went to the gym to work out. Not very exciting, but it was okay. Laundry is laundry, and has to be done at some point in time. I had already done a couple of loads earlier in the cruise, so now all the clothes are ready to go home. Tomorrow I will do some packing since our last day of the cruise is Naples and Pompeii and we have a full day tour scheduled.

Right now, it is threatening to rain and is a little on the chilly side. We are due to set sail in about 10 minutes and will be at sea tomorrow, so unless there is something exciting that happens tomorrow, there will be no blog.

Until next blog.....................

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Rhodes

Rhodes
Nov 17

Today was the island of Rhodes. This is a very popular tourist island in the summer, but a lot of the hotels and shops are now closed for the season. Of course, we found an entire bazaar in the old town of Rhodes to shop in.

Before I go any farther, I want to mention that we have found a Starbucks not only in Athens, but Mykonos and Kusadasi and I am told there is one in the new town of Rhodes, which we didn't see today.

Today's tour was an island tour of Rhodes, we saw both sides of this small island. In it's days of greatest power, Rhodes was famous for their impressive sculpture, like the huge bronze Colossus, which stood at the entrance to the harbor. Created to honor the sun god Helios, it was at least 110 feet high and considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Unfortunately it only stood for 56 years before an earthquake toppled it in 224 BC! The huge fragments remained half submerged for another nine centuries, then a scarp dealer finally carried the pieces away for 900 camels. Go figure! We did see where they think it stood however. I am finding that a lot of history here is where the people THINK these things were. Who knows if it is right or wrong...so we just choose to believe them!

Al went with us today and did very well. His legs are back to normal size (not Al size) and he feels pretty good. I however, am having a bout with vertigo...ugh! I don't know if it is the movement of the ship, or just the right time of year for me to have vertigo....I seem to get it about this time every year lately. However, it is not stopping me from seeing and doing things.

After our island tour on a trolley, we toured the old town. Most of it is medieval, in the image of the Knights of St. John. Very interesting and the streets are cobblestone, so it wasn't an easy walk. Jack and Suzi went through the Palace of the Grand Masters which contained some beautiful mosaic pieces. Al and I opted out since there were a lot of stairs and we started walking through old town. Jack and Suzi caught up with us later as we really took our time and poked our noses in to many shops. It reminded us a little of Saudi's souks. We all stopped for a pizza and beer which was excellent. Al was on the hunt for a loaf of local bread, which we finally found. Also I purchased some gifts here...prices were fairly good and the merchants weren't pushy like so many we have found on other islands.

Tomorrow is Santorini....then a day at sea (finally a rest) and then Naples and Pompeii, then our trip will be over! Wow---can't believe we have been gone 10 days already! How time flies.

So until tomorrow, after Santorini..........we are cruzin!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Kusadasi, Turkey

Nov. 17
We are in Turkey today...and no, not the Thanksgiving kind! The ship arrived this morning at 6:30 a.m. and we started our tour of Kusadasi and Ephesus at 8:30. Wow..am I tired. A lot of walking today, over very uneven terrain for the most part.

Our tour started out at Basilica of St. John. It was built by the Emperor Justinian over the tomb of St. John the Apostle. The Basilica is now in ruins of course, and St. John's bones were moved to Italy centuries ago. It was interesting to see however.

From there we went to the House of the Virgin Mary. Apparently the Vatican has recognized this small house in the Solmissos Mountains as the final resting place of the Virgin Mary. However, who knows for sure??? Even the tour guide kept saying "we have been told" this is the final resting place as a small shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary was found when the ruins of the house was first discovered.

Next was Ephesus. We toured the 3rd city of Ephesus. The first two were destroyed 200 BC. This one dates back to 150 AD (a new place compared to most we have seen.) The Magnesia Gate entrance led us down hill on a marble paved road to the ruins of the Roman Provincial capital. Very uneven terrain, but something to see at least once. Continuing down the road we pasted the Odeum, Celsus Library, Temple of Hadrian, Fountain of Trajan and the Great Theater, which had seating at one time for 25,000 people and is where St. Paul preached to the Ephesians. Of course this is all ruins, some being reconstructed. These Ephesians were truly ingenious people for their time.

When we left Ephesus, of course there were the vendors all along the side of the road hawking their wares. One sign read "Genuine Fake Watches" for sale...we got a laugh out of that! I felt like I was back in Saudi....the way some of the buildings were built, the smells, the people, and of course, prayer being called from the local minaret.

Tomorrow is Rhodes. Our luck with good weather is still holding.................

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Mykonos

Nov. 15, 2007
Today was the island of Mykonos. I think I have fallen in love with an island! What a neat little island. Little being the operative word. It is just over 20 sq miles...but it is a great 20 sq. miles. We toured the entire island today...starting with the southern end, at St. John's Beach. Quaint little chapels everywhere...every family builds a chapel here. However, there are only about 20 families or clans here...some have over 100 people, and to some extent, everyone on the island is related. Mykonos was settled in 7000 BC.....Yes, that is BC! That just blew my mind. I had to ask our tour guide to repeat that as surely I had misunderstood! And this island has been populated since then! From the late 1800's to mid 1900's there were sometimes less than 1800 people on the island. Shipping used to be the big industry on this island and when the change was made from sailing ships to steam, the inhabitants didn't make the change and slowly the industry died. For that time the island was very poor and most of the population left to go to other places. Then in the late 1950's people discovered this island as a tourist spot. Now, the main industry is tourism and the island's population will swell to over 100,000 during the tourist season. Of course, when the cruise lines are in port that number increases. Right now is the end of the season and a lot of shops were already closed. Many of the houses on the island are vacant now as they are seasonal homes. There were no auto's or roads on the island until 1955 and before then the main transportation was by horse or mule.

We toured the Holy Monastery of Panayia (the holy virgin) which is still a working monastery and there are currently 7 monks in residence. The church is absolutely beautiful inside and is lit by oil lamps, olive oil at that! All the buildings on this island are a pristine white...they are white washed once a year, usually in the spring time. We also saw the Panagia Paraportiani church, which unites four chapels into a unique Byzantine pattern with a single door and graceful arched bell tower. Also there are windmills all over the island....OLD windmills. Years ago they raised barley on the island and the wind mills were used to power the mills that turned the barley into flour. Of course, that is no longer done on the island, but the windmills give it a romantic look.

We traveled through Mykonos Town; through the labyrinth that was old town. Very picturesque and interesting. Very narrow streets (really only walking paths, sometimes for only two abreast) with the whitewashed houses with bright blue or turquoise doors and balconies.

Jack, Suzi and I really enjoyed our tour today. Jack left Suzi and I in town and he returned to the ship early, so Suzi and I wandered around by ourselves for a while. We stopped and had some very poor hummus, but got some calamari to go and brought it back to the ship for appetizers (as if we aren't getting enough food on board!)....the calamari was some of the best we have ever had...excellent.

Al is getting better, but still not able to go on some of these tours. Tomorrow is Ephesus, Turkey and he won't go on that one as it states again "extensive walking".

Our weather is great...beautiful sunny day today. We didn't even have our jackets on, however, I noticed the locals were bundled up in coats! Hmmmm

So, until tomorrow night..........we are still a sailin!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Katakolon, Athens

Nov. 14....aboard the Star Princess

Okay, so I didn't blog last night. Way too tired! Actually I am way to tired tonight as well, however, if I don't get it done tonight I am likely to forget what we have done and where we have been....so here goes!

Yesterday was Katakolon, Greece. Not an island, but on the western side of Greece. Katakolon is a small fishing village of about 600 people...until tourist/cruise season when it blooms to over 10,000 a day! We actually didn't stay in Katakolon, we took the tour bus up to Olympia...the beginning of the Olympic games way back when. We toured the museum there, seeing some statues that were from 439 BC....yup...you read that right. All of us were having a hard time wrapping our brains around how old these were. I sure wish I could attach pictures so you could see what I am talking about. We spent a couple of hours in the museum and of course in the little town of Olympia (i.e., spend money here please.) Last August this was another place that was victim to a horrible wild fire, and it burned within feet of the museum. So sad to see. We didn't go to the actual archaeological site of the first Olympics, that was another tour.

Al didn't go with us yesterday. He was still very swollen and retaining a lot of fluid yet. He has to see the doctor every 8 hours to get an extra dose of lasix. And yesterday she put him in compression hose as well. You should have seen me trying to get those on him! ARG

Nov 14...Athens
Up early to take the tour of Athens, Acropolis, Plaka (old town) and Cape Sounion (Poseidon's temple). I sure wish I had paid more attention in my Greek Mythology class years ago!

We started at Cape Sounion. We were here 20 years ago and the weather was horrible...windy, cold, rain threatening, lightning, thunder, etc. It was almost as if Poseidon was telling us to get off his land. Well, today was no different! Same weather! But I love Cape Sounion. It is so fascinating to me to hear all of the myths and history of the area. This temple was built in 5th century B.C. (yup, you read that correct!) We stayed in the area for about an hour and just as we got back on the bus, the rain started! WHEW!

As we drove back into Athens, it was raining all the way. As we pulled up to the Acropolis, the rain stopped. We are so lucky! The Acropolis is up about 100 steps....all marble and all as slick as they could be from the rain! Wheeeeeeeeee! The Acropolis dominates the Athenian area. Up to the Parthenon, the Erectheloion, and the porch of the Caryatids we went. Taking lots of pictures. We also saw the Agora, where it is said that the Aposle Paul preached. I won't bore you with the rest of the history of the area.... you should have been paying attention in Greek History as well! :-) We spent well over an hour in the Acropolis; then it was down those 100 steps to a wonderful lunch of what else, but Greek food. YUM!

From there we were led down a very narrow road (and steps) to the Plaka, or the old town. There we were on our own for some retail therapy. And Therapy I did. I found another Greek Vase to match the two I have at home (that is if the cat's haven't knocked them off) and a couple of books on the area. Then we hit the big time! WE FOUND STARBUCKS! YEAH! Jack, Suzi and I sat and had a Starbucks coffee. I love the European coffee, but I was really craving a Starbucks. From there it was back on the bus for a short tour of Athens, and then back to the ship. Needless to say, we are all tired and will probably be very sore tomorrow from all the walking and stair climbing....well, I will probably be sore, Jack and Suzi may not be.

Al is still ship bound. The doctor gave him another massive dose of furosemide yesterday and I think he is doing much better today, however, he still can't walk very far. Tomorrow is the island of Mykonos, which our tickets say "extensive walking" so he will not go tomorrow. After that I may put him in a wheel chair for the next tour in Ephesus. We will see.

Our weather held all day until we were getting back on the ship, when it started to get cold and windy again. We have really been lucky on the weather on this trip.

Of course the food is wonderful.....however, I don't see how we can gain any weight after all the walking we are doing! Just ask my legs, knees and back! Ouch!

So until next blog, tomorrow maybe, we are still the Wroamin' Wraspirs and Waddicks!

PS....I have to giggle when I do the spell check...it really doesn't like all of these Greek names...perhaps Jennifer was right when she said she felt like she had to say "Bless You" after all of the Greek names!

Monday, November 12, 2007

It's Greek to Us!

Corfu
Nov 12, 2007

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, Greek soil! Feels so good! I swear I must have Greek blood in me somewhere (I know I don't, but I sure love anything Greek!)

We arrived in Corfu early this morning after a rocking night aboard the Star! Whew, it got a little rough on the Adriatic Sea last night. We are on the back of the boat and on the 12th floor and we can feel the wrockin and wrollin! Maybe we should change our handle to the "Wrollin Wraspirs"....nah!

Last night we went to the Italian Restaurant on board the ship....all I can say is WOW! So much food, so little room. We all groaned as we got up from that table! Then we went to the ship show, which was a great juggler. Normally, I don't like juggling acts (I do to many of them at home, but that is a whole other blog), however, this guy was good. After getting back to the room Al mentions that his left leg is bothering him. When I saw his leg I knew why! It was swollen HUGE, red and very hot. Oh oh, a trip to the doc in the morning.

This morning we were up and to the medical facility here on the ship before breakfast. Yes, he has edema in both legs, stomach, but not in congestive heart failure yet. The doctor put him on an IV of a massive dose of furosimide (lasix) and antibiotic. He stayed in the hospital room for over 3 hours this morning and he must stay on board for at least 48 hours. No tours for him...he must keep his leg elevated and stay off of it. We have to return to the medical office every 12 hours for it to be checked and for them to give him another dose of furosimide and antibiotic through the IV. What fun! He is feeling much better this evening and his leg has reduced in size considerably. I feel so bad for him not being able to tour, but he doesn't seem to mind. Doctor said between the flight and the walking he has done for the past two days probably brought this on. All I could think of was cellulitus, but she said it hadn't progressed that far. Had we waited another day it would have and then we would be in big trouble.

So after getting him settled, Jack, Suzi and I took off on our scheduled tour of the Island of Corfu. What a beautiful island -- and so Greek! DUH! Our tour took us first to a Kum Kwat distillery. Yup, more liquor tasting. This one today wasn't as bad as yesterday, but instead of tasting like Drano, this tasted more like cough syrup...we figured we were improving and by the end of the trip we may taste something we actually might like. From there our bus took us to the town of Placakostrista (spelling may be off on that one....maybe not enough vowels). This scenic little town is on the western side of the island. One of the Greek Myths is that one of the rocks just off shore looks like a ship and that Poseidon was angry at Odysseus (maybe) and turned his ship into a rock! Okay.... Then we started up this very narrow, winding wroad to the village of Lakona to view the scenery from way up high. Uh huh. The bus driver I must say was an EXCELLENT driver...thank goodness. The wroad had plenty of switchbacks and hairpin curves, and was very narrow. He navigated them all with no problems, other than most of us On the bus gasping and holding our breath. When we reached the little village the wroad was so narrow he missed the buildings on each side by less than an inch. At one point, there was a car parked in one of the wider spots in the wroad...the driver got by the car with no room to spare! Needless to say, all I could think of is what goes up, must come down and somehow we were going to have to get off this mountain. However, he took a different wroad down, much to the relief of the entire bus! The little village of Lakona was cute, we had a drink of our choice at the little restaurant and some different tasting walnut cake. It had some spice in it we couldn't identify, but it was good.

From there we went to Corfu town. Toured a bit of the old town, but by then it was getting dark and the ship was scheduled to leave in a short time so we came back to the ship. Very interesting island and another one I would like to come back to and spend some time.

We have been very fortunate so far on weather. When we were in Venice the weather was excellent, however the day before it had been cold, windy and rainy. Same in Dubrovnik. We thought our luck had ran out here as it was raining this morning, but by the time we took our tour the sun was out and it was warm. Hope our luck holds for the rest of the trip.

Tonight after dinner Al went back to the room to put his feet up, Suzi is in the casino and Jack and I are on the computers. Since the Internet is not free on board, and I still can't figure out how to send pictures, I may have to wait to send pictures when I get home.

Until tomorrow......which is Katakolona..............

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Phoenix-Chicago-Frankfurt, Germany-Venice, Italy, Dubrovnik, Croatia

Nov. 11
Aboard the Star Princess
Nov 8,9
We left Phoenix at 3:30 on Nov 8 and arrived Chicago 3 hours later. In Chicago we boarded Luftansa Airline headed for Frankfurt, Germany. This was an 8 hour flight,...a LONG 8 hour flight. Jack and Suzi got some sleep, however, Al and I didn't fare as well. Al was in an aisle seat and I was in a window, however, we weren't together! At any rate this was a super flight for service; we even got real, hot, airplane food! And the drinks were free--something unheard of now days!

We arrived in Frankfurt the next afternoon....tired, but never the less, on our way. It was cold and rainy in Frankfurt and we were hoping it would be not a sign of things to come! While in Frankfurt I really, really wanted to call our Grandson Danny who is stationed there. However, I the pay phones outsmarted me and I couldn't figure them out and I couldn't figure out how to buy a phone card either!!!! I also tried to buy two bottles (small) of water, but the price for these outsmarted me as well...$13.22 US for two bottles of water...I DON'T THINK SO! Of course, I had no Euro's yet. So we waited for our plane instead.

Our flight from Frankfurt to Venice was a little more exciting. The first hour was fine, I got some sleep as did Al...however, the last 30 minutes was a bit more exciting as we BOUNCED over the Alps! I would have to say it was one of the roughest flights we have been on in years and years! Arriving in Venice, we waited over 45 minutes for our bags. Apparently the baggage handlers are not part of the airport service and they had gone on strike that morning! After getting our bags, Princess Cruise Lines met us with a bus and off we went to the Star Princess. We got settled in our rooms, freshened up a bit and went to dinner...it had been almost 10 hours since we ate. We are in anytime dining and we all had a great prime rib. At our table was a young couple and I started chatting with them. He is a LA County Fire Fighter and she was with the LA County Sheriff's Department, but recently transferred to the DA's office as an investigator! Now, what are the chances we would meet a couple that resembled Billie and Dan that much! Matter-of-fact they even looked alot like them! After dinner we all decided we were too tired to do anything. Suzi and I tried to explore the ship, but we were too tired to do even that!

Nov. 10 Venice
Up early and off on our first tour...Venice, City of Canals. We left the ship at 7:30 a.m. and took a boat to the dock in Venice. From there we met our tour guide and we walked to the Murano Glass Factory. We saw a glass blower make a vase and a glass horse. Facinating! Venician glass is beautiful. We had an opportunity to go into the "show room"...very expensive. Suzi and I decided even a small piece was out of our price range. I might add at this point that the Euro is 1.62 to our dollar! OUCH! One of the reasons we felt the glass was out of our price range.

From there we had a short walk to St. Mark's Square. What a beautiful place. The Piazza is huge, with shops and cafes all around it and of course the vendors selling their wares. And the pigeons! I have always heard about the pigeons in St. Marks Square and there they were! One of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen is here as well - St Marks. The Basilica of San Marco was built in 830 to house St. Mark's tomb, then rebuilt again in the 11th century. Because of the intricate and rich decorations it is referred to as the "Golden Church". We didn't go inside, but just the outside was absolutely facinating. One thing we all have noticed is the "Winged Lion" which is the emblem of Venice. We learned this represents the winged Lion of St. Mark the Evangelist. The saints bones were brought here from Alexandria in 823 and reburied in the Basilica.

From the church, we went to Doges Palace, which is actually connected to the church. The palace became the heart of Venetian goverment from the 9th century. A Doge was the chief executive , an elected official with power over life and death. Doges palace houses great many paintings as well as paintings on the ceilings and very ornate ceilings of gold. Very awe inspiring and all of us were spellbound by the beauty. We walked forever in the Palace and climbed lots and lots of stairs, which wasn't the best for Al and he was tiring quickly. We crossed the Bridge of Sighs, which link the palace to the prison and was named for the prisioners who would be walked across to the prision from the palace after sentencing and they would "sigh" at the last sight of sunlight they would see from the small windows on the bridge before being led into the dark, windowless prision. We walked through the prision, and all of commented on the size of the rooms, which were fairly large, but they would house several prisioners together in these rooms. Back over the Bridge of Sighs and into the palace once again we went. Our tour guide told us about the "ladies of opportunity" that were very common in early Venice and at one point there were over 11,000 of them.

From there we walked a short distance to board our Gondola for our Gondola ride. This is something I have always wanted to do and it was well worth it. Actually, Venice is made up of 118 islands, with over 150 canals and 400 bridges. Getting in the Gondola was interesting... the four of us and a couple from Oregon were in the same Gondola. The Oregon couple (more on them later) got in first, then Suzi, myself, Jack and finally Al. Now, as most of you know, Al has a hard time getting around and isn't very agile....we were worried about him getting in the Gondola without either him falling in the drink or putting us in the drink. Thank goodness for Jack who helped get Al in and settled in a very low seat. (Suzi and I were worried about getting him out but we both decided to enjoy the ride first.) The ride was everything I ever imagined it would be. The narrow canals, the houses and businesses on the canals; we noticed that some of the lower floors of these buildings were no longer used due to Venice "sinking" and some of the doors were rotted out. Venice floods over 200 times a year, not from weather from tidal flooding. The houses and buildings along the canal were so pretty, it is hard to describe just how beautiful they are. We went under the Bridge of Sighs, which legend has you are suppose to kiss your partner under the bridge. There were many Gondola's on the canal we were on and some power boats as well. After a 40 minute ride we were once again at the Gondola dock...now we had to get Al out of the boat without putting us in the drink. Thankfully the gondolier had the foresight to dock us at a better dock and had help waiting to assist Al out, along with Jack once again.

The couple from Oregon was one of those "small world" experiences for me. I was born and raised until 5th grade in Grants Pass, Oregon. This couple not only was from Grants Pass, he was the principal at Fort Vannoy school I attended and my aunt taught at and my mom worked at. Of course he didn't come to the school until after I left, however, he knew the previous principal, Mr. Mahoney and knew my aunt! Her last year teaching there was his first year as principal there! Talk about a small world!

Before we knew it we were on the boat back to the ship and no time to shop!!! Arrivderci Venice...this is definitely a place to return to someday and spend a week or more.

Once back on the ship it we did the required "life boat/jacket" drill. After that we went to lunch, then Al went back to the room to rest while Suzi and I explored the ship and Jack went to the gym.

It was our first formal night on board, and I have to say we all clean up very well. Also had pictures taken last night. After another great dinner, Al and I went back to our room and Jack and Suzi went to see one of the shows.

Nov. 11
Up again early and today we are in Debrovnik, Croatia. Our tour today was a "Taste of Croatia and old Debrovnik". We tendered in early this morning and on to the tour bus. Our first stop was a restaurant outside of Debrovnik for a taste of local wine and dried figs. Yes, dried figs. The wine turned out to be more like drinking "Drano" as Suzi put it. ICK! Of course Jack and Al liked the wine, but I had to agree with Suzi. While at the restaurant we found a cat, or it found us and Suzi and I were trying to figure a way to smuggle it back home with us, but we were convinced to leave it there. The cat had the markings of our cat Josephine that we brought home from Saudi many years ago.

Our next stop was the town of Cavtat. This part of Croatia is a major tourist area and that is their major industry as well. While driving to Cavtat we saw where many houses were bombed out during the Serb/Bosnian war in the early 1990's. This part of Croatia is a narrow area and the border to Serbia and Montenegro is only miles from where we were. Also, last August the area was devestated by a wild fire and we were amazed at how much damage was done. Cavtat is a major tourist area along the Adriatic Sea. We had time to have a cup of coffee here....yum, European coffee -- I had forgot how much I loved it.

Next we stopped in the old town of Dubrovnik. Even during the last war the old town survived. It is built inside a huge wall and is very picturesque. Jack and Sue took the guided tour, while Al and I decided we had to use the bathroom and would tour on our own. Now, the bathroom was interesting and I looked around to see where Rowland was! It was unisex (you couldn't get this one wrong Rowland!!) and when I entered the stall I started to giggle. It was nothing more than a whole in the floor, I had to stand up and pee! I haven't done this since my last visit to Europe...so once again I am experincing the "toilets of Europe."

A bit of history about Dubrovnik. At it's peak, Dubrovnik was a very successful competior of Venice and one of the most prosperous commercial powers in the world. The Slavic name "Dubrovnik" means "well wooded" and highlights the qulity of the hardwood forests in this area. The city was founded around 640 when the Avars raided the Greco Roman town of Epidaurum and the fugitives fled to the rocky coast. The built their town inside a wall to protect it from enemies from not only the land, but sea as well.It has been occupied by Turks as well as Slavic people and the native language is Serbo-Croatian. In 1667 an earthquake demolished the city. Over 4,000 people were killed, which was over half of the population then. The city survived only because of the many ships and citizens that were in foreign ports at the time of the quake. Nepolian built a fortress high on the hill above town and also occupied one of the many offshore islands. In the 19th century it was part of the Austiran empire, then it was passed on to Yugoslavia after WWI. In 1991 when Yugoslavia broke apart, this area became Croatia. Because of its prosimity to Bosnia and Serbia, Dubrovnik took a severe pounding during a seige of several months. The death and destruction was as bad then as it had ever been in the cities long history. However, the old city was somewhat protected because the UNESCO flag flew above a "world heritage site".

After our tour of old town we once again boarded a tender and back on board ship. Tonight we are dining in the one of the "restaurants" on board instead of the dining room. Tomorrow we will be in Corfu.

I would like to include pictures in my blog, but can't figure out how to transfer them from camera to this computer on board. I will try and figure that out! So until the next blog....we are wroamin with the Waddicks!

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

And we are off....almost

Tucson

And we are off on our Greek Island cruise...almost. Tomorrow we go to Phoenix for the night after dropping dogs off in Gila Bend to Yuma friends who are meeting us there. Thursday is the big, long day. We leave Phoenix bound for Chicago in the afternoon; leaving Chicago around 10:00 p.m. for the long, long flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Then it is just an hour or so flight into Venice, arriving there around 5:00 p.m. (their time) on the 9th. WHEEEEEEEEEEE! Sure wish we had a longer layover in Frankfurt as grandson Danny is stationed there and we could see him, but our layover is about 2 hours, not enough time.

I survived my 60th birthday with a lot of well wishes from family and friends. Mike and Bev sent flowers as did Melanie and Ron and family! I do love my flowers. Jennifer wrote a wonderful blog for my special day as well. Made me cry! All the kids checked in as did granddaughters Sarah, Cammie and Natasha. Sibling's checked in as well to make sure I knew how old I was! Lots of friends called, sent cards and emails. Saturday night Holly and Bruce had us over for dinner along with Gary and Jeannette. And yes, to those who are wondering, Jeannette got even. Yesterday Al and I went out to lunch and then friends had a party for me last night. What fun! Now I am ready to have fun in my 60's!

We are getting the other house close to being finished. Gary Cipponeri and crew have worked hard and the results are wonderful! We have managed to get some furniture moved in and when we get back we will finish it up as my brother is scheduled in on the 27th.

So stay tuned for blogs from our cruise. I am not taking my computer, but there are computers on board that are available....so until the next time.......we hope you are all enjoying life and are happy and healthy.

The Wroamin' Wraspirs,
AL and JO

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