Cheerio from England

England was a blast.  After all, how can you lose when you are staying with friends who are happy to see you?

We arrived at Luton Airport (North of London) late on Friday evening.  We rented a car and drove about 1½ hours to our friends’ home in Blundston at the tip of the Cotswolds.  Mark did a superb job navigating the roundabouts and the motorways all on the opposite side of the road.

James has known Mark since their early days in the Corps.  His wife, Sarah, is British and James is a Tex-Brit.  Courtney, 16 and Jeremy, 15 have grown up a lot since our last visit two years ago.  Tegan, the newest member of the family is a beautiful four-footed mix-breed girl.   Mark was in his element.  He and James biked both mornings through the beautiful countryside and villages while we were there.  Sarah took me to a fabric sale—what beautiful pieces she purchased. She has taken to making lavender sachets, three of which she gave me for our packs.  She knows my passion for lavender!  Thanks, Sarah!

On Saturday, while the men were biking Sarah and I picked up her daughter in Cirencester, a lovely town in the Cotswolds.   The warm sunshine made this beautiful, quaint Cotswold village absolutely divine.   That evening James treated us to a delicious BBQ after which we went to the local pub. 

 A view of Pound Farm in the distance

Sunday, with Sarah and James in tow, we headed to Pound Farm to visit my friend Louise James and John Jenkinson.  Louise proudly showed us the farm that John’s family has owned since the mid-17^th century.  It is beautiful land not far from Bath and Bristol.  The renovations they have made to the farm along with all the work necessary to keep the farm operational are impressive.  We toured the house, the farm and the church in which many of John’s ancestors are buried.  Most of all, it was great to reconnect with Louise, a dear friend from our days in Hawaii.  We hope our paths cross more frequently in the coming years.

Sarah, James, Louise and John

From the Cotswolds, we headed South and East to Eastbourne to spend a few days with our English/Mercer Island friends, Linda, Andrew and Alice Redfern.  I met Linda at my first event with the Mercer Island Women’s Club.  We became fast friends.   After a three-year stint in the States, they returned to England and settled in Eastbourne, a little over two years ago.  Since then, their daughter Alice has completed university, received her certification to teach English as a Second Language and will head to South America on 1 November for six months.  Linda is now pursuing her English as a Second Language certification while Andrew is adjusting to retirement.  We enjoyed exploring Eastbourne, Pevensey, and Lewes.  We enjoyed Eastbourne’s historic boardwalk.  In Pevensey we saw the place where William the Conqueror landed in 1066, a fort nearby that had been occupied by the Romans and later the English, and the Church of St. Nicholas built in 1216.  Lewes boasts one of the oldest English castles dating from the time of William the Conqueror, and the bar Thomas Paine frequented before he came to America.  There is so much history on this side of the big pond.  However, for me a most memorable event was the ladybug landing on Linda’s arm moments before she received a call from Alice who announced that she had passed her driver’s test.  Lucky ladybugs!

Mark, Linda, Andrew, Alice and Carol enjoying the pub

In order to avoid a hassle getting to the airport, we spent the last evening at a hotel near Heathrow.  The hotel was a disaster but we had a lovely evening catching up with Faith, PJ, Jordan and Jared Johnston.  We even had the pleasure of being there for Jordan’s 17^th birthday.  It is great to see their family reunited.  We wish them all well in their life together. 

Jordan, PJ, Faith and Jared Johnston

It’s on to Istanbul where Europe and Asia meet on the Bosphoros.  

Bountiful Budapest

View of Buda from Pest

When we last wrote we were on the train to Budapest.  We spent five days in this beautiful city that straddles the Danube.  While we were in Cesky Krumlov in September, we met three Hungarians.  One of them, Katalin, invited us to visit Budapest.  Moreover, Amy thorough enjoyed Budapest when she was there this summer. That, along with the promise of good weather, was enough to add it to our itinerary. 

Katalin is an official tour guide as is her friend and colleague Kata.  Together Kata and Katalin shared the history of Hungary with us and made sure that we were able to get the most out of our visit to Budapest.  Hungary traces its history to the decision to unite by 7 tribal leaders in 896 AD.  These tribes had come from the Ural Mountains.  This explains why Hungarian is not a Slavic language but actually shares its linguistic similarities with Finnish and Estonian.  Stephen was the first King and brought Christianity to Hungary around 1000 AD.  He later achieved sainthood.  Hungary has been conquered and occupied many times from the Ottoman to the Austrian empires, by the Germans and most recently by the Soviets.  Buda and Pest merged in the 1860s.  Many of Budapest’s beautiful buildings were constructed in the late 19^th and early 20^th century.  Indeed many of their buildings near Heroes Square were constructed for the 1000th year anniversary of Hungary’s birth in 1896.

Some of the Seven Tribes 

So what did we like: Andrassy Avenue with its beautiful old buildings; the statues of Hungary’s 7 tribal leaders and other national leaders at Heroes Square; the memorial to the 1956 Revolution against the Soviets; lovely City Park with the ice skating pavilion and buildings constructed for Hungary’s millennium celebration; Szechenyi Thermal Bath where we enjoyed the thermal baths, steam rooms and saunas with Logan and Claire, a couple from New Zealand; delicious Hungarian dinners particularly at Paprika and Bali;  the Market; riding the funicular to Buda at night; a visit to the Parliament that is modeled after Westminister Abbey but two meters longer; the Ethnological Museum that offers an excellent historical overview of the Hungarian culture; a hospital built in a cave under Buda; the old buildings and ruins in Buda; Matthias Church; Saint Stephen’s Bascilica; and an evening of jazz at small club in Buda.  Most of all we appreciated the opportunity to get to know our hosts, Katalin and Kata.

 Beautiful Buda street

Pretty Pest house

Did I forget to mention, the weather was perfect!

If you ever have a chance to visit Budapest, I highly recommend it!

On the way to Budapest

It has been a while since I updated our blog.  We last wrote that we were in Rome.  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there.  Rome is a vibrant city with a happy energy and so much history.   The ruins are plentiful and fascinating.  Our one disappointment is that we did not get the audio guide for the Roman Forum.  We had expected that the Roman Forum would have the written explanations we found so prevalent at the Coliseum but alas they were few and far between at the Forum.  Happily, though, yesterday we happened upon the Museum of the Imperial Fort that turned out to be the museum of the Roman Forum and there we learned exactly what we had seen at the Forum.   Moreover, yesterday all the museums in the city were free so we really lucked out!  We took in two more small museums with art and artifacts from the 1^st century through the Renaissance.  We applaud the Romans for doing such a wonderful job of preserving their history!  What a gift to mankind.

Prior to leaving on our cruise, we went to the first Vatican located in San Giovanni in Laterano and the catacombs of Saint Sebastian on Appian Way while the following day we explored the Vatican and Saint Peter’s Basilica.  The treasures of the Catholic Church are beyond imagination.  We are indeed lucky to have so many great pieces of art so well preserved for posterity though I wonder how the leaders of the church justified such opulence when so many of their parishioner lived in abject poverty.   Although it is hard to choose what I liked best at the Vatican—there is so much beauty.  The Map Room mesmerized me as did the old Bibles and documents housed in the Vatican.  On our last evening in Rome, we enjoyed a true Italian dinner at Restaurante del Pallarmo.  Marilena, Mama treated us well. 

Our cruise was amazing.  We left Rome (Civitavecchia actually) and headed to Dubrovnik, Croatia.  I was very excited to see this medieval walled city.  Unfortunately, it was probably my least favorite port.  Tourists mobbed the city and the locals charged for everything.  We found it particularly disheartening when we were asked to pay 10E each (about $14.50) to walk the wall of the old city.  On the upside we happened to have been there as Ana u Gradu, a Croatian musician was recording a music video.  (Her music reminds me of Enya’s.)  Aside from her phenomenal musical talent she had dancers in native costumes performing and invited the crowd to dance along.  It made the visit to Dubrovnik truly special. 

After Dubrovnik we went to Kerkira, Corfu and then to Katakolon, Greece.  Corfu had the old and new forts (both old by our standards) that we explored.  We enjoyed some great views and more history.  We met a potter who was playing a Buzuki that reminded me of a Balalaika.  I even had a quick swim in the Med.  But what I found the most interesting was a discussion we had with a young university student who was explaining why the Greek students were protesting against the government.  With Greece’s shaky financial situation, there have been many protests and the Greeks are extremely angry with their government.  The students are in the university but have no teachers because the teachers aren’t being paid.  The university is free but the government wants to start charging the students to attend.  The students were quite surprised to hear that our public universities charge. 

In Katakolon, Greece we took a tour to Olympia.  Our tour guide Maria was well versed in Greek history and the flora of the area.  We appreciated our time exploring the ruins of the first Olympic games.  We wondered if the US should adopt the ancient Greek practice of placing a statute at the entrance of the Olympic stadium to the athletes who cheat.  Would that be an incentive in modern times to stop using drugs that enhance their performance?

From Katakolon we headed to Santorini.  I was surprised that Santorini was so arid.  We lucked out by joining a local boat tour of the local volcano, a hot spring, a small fishing village and Oia, the often photographed, Santorini village.  We also met a delightful newly engaged young couple:  Darla and Greg.   The hike up to the newest volcano in the Mediterranean was steep and very hot but interesting.  We loved the hot spring visit because you had to jump off the boat and swim about 1km in the Med to get to the hot spring (which wasn’t that hot).  The stop at the fishing village was boring but the hike up Oia alongside the donkeys was intense but fun.  Oia was also too touristy for my taste but I enjoyed the bus ride along Santorini to Fira and the cable car from Fira back down to the waterfront.  All in all, it was a great day.

Our next port call was Kusadasi, Turkey.  Since we will be visiting Turkey in October, we chose to forgo the tour to Ephesus and stayed in Kusadasi taking in the shops and the fort.  We learned a good deal about buying Turkish rugs and spent some time catching up on the Internet.  We have been pleased to find WiFi access available at most of our locations though the speed and strength of the connections have varied. 

We were back to Greece with Athens as our next stop.  We were concerned when we heard that public transportation and taxis were going to be on strike the day we arrived.  However, we decided that rather than taking a Holland America tour that was very costly and only stayed in the city for a few hours, we would chance finding a way to get from the port of Piraeus to Athens (7 miles) on our own.  As luck would have it, we hopped on a Hop On, Hop Off bus and got to the Acropolis without difficulty.  The Acropolis is awesome.  The Parthenon is impressive as is the care the Greeks are taking to preserve their heritage.  I loved the Erectheion, Athena’s temple.  We also toured the New Acropolis Museum, which is well worth the time and inexpensive entry fee for such an impressive museum.  I liked Athens and would like to return. 

Our last port call was Messina, Italy on the tip of Sicily.  This was a quick call but we liked visiting the church on the hill with a great view of the city and port and seeing the clock tower at noon where it comes to life with its statues twirling and music playing.   

To top off a wonderful cruise, plumes of ash were rising from a volcanic island as we passed by.  What a farewell!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time on the Noordam, one of Holland America’s ships.  The food was delicious with small enough portions so you could really enjoy each bite, the service impeccable, the entertainment by Juan Paublo, a Cuban pianist and Duo Acrobatique, a husband and wife team formerly from Cirque de Soliel absolutely superb, and the company delightful.  We met three couples whom I hope we see again:  Joan and Brian from New Zealand, Hans and Maria from Holland and Hannah and Bill from New York.   

We took an overnight train from Rome to Budapest where we will arrive in minutes.  We are happy to report that we had a great night sleep in our four-person couchette, despite the thunderous shouting and singing of the drunken Germans in the compartment beside us.  We enjoyed our cabin- mates, particularly Suzy who we hope will come visit us in Seattle.

We will be in Budapest for five days and then head to London where we will visit friends until our departure for Istanbul on October 6, our 24^th Anniversary.  Until our next blog, we send our best wishes. 

Cinque Terra and Rome

It’s almost 11PM and I’m exhausted.  Rome is wonderful.  We have been on our feet somewhere between 8-10 hours a day seeing the sights, hence this brief blog entry.

We had a fabulous visit in Cinque Terre where we met our friends Don and Marilena from Arlington, Virginia.  Don found a lovely apartment near the beach in Levanto.  Our first day we all hiked 3 of the 4 Cinque Terra cities: Monterosso to Vernazza to Corniglia and the Lover’s walk in Riomaggiore.  The Corniglia to Manarolo leg was closed due to a landslide.  We also met a young couple, Angela and Jeremy with whom we hiked and shared a meal.  The following day Mark and Don hiked from Levanto to Monterosso while Marilena and I caught up on email and lazed around the apartment.  That afternoon we took a boat from port to port.  The sunset we saw in Vernazza that night was magical.         

Sunset in Vernazza

One of the towns along the Cinque Terra route

 Mark was eager to share the hike he had done with Don from Levanto to Monterosso so the last day, at 6AM, Mark and I set out.  All was well until around 7AM when Mark heard a noise that he thought was either another hiker or an animal.  As he got closer he thought he saw a dog.  He walked more slowly since he didn’t see a person with it.  Within a step or two he realized it wasn’t a dog but instead a juvenile wild boar.  A few yards behind it were two mature wild boars and another youngster.  That was enough to propel Mark quickly backward toward me.  We gave the boars ample time to leave before we headed back with rocks in hand singing loudly with hope of scaring the boars off the trail.  It must have worked because the boars were nowhere in sight.  Despite the encounter with the boars, we were still able to enjoy the beautiful vistas and complete the hike in time to shower and pack before heading off to Rome. 

Happily we haven’t run into any wild animals in Rome, only lots and lots of tourists.  Turns out that September and October are the top months for visitors.  Lucky us.  Nevertheless, it has been worth joining the crowds to take in the wonderful history offered here. 

Mosaic from the Coliseum

We are off to see more ruins today and then to the Vatican tomorrow.  On Thursday we board the MS Noordam for a 10-day cruise to Croatia, Greece, Turkey and Italy.  We will be off-line so for now, Ciao!

From Milan to Lucca with a stop in Locarno

We’re back on the train.  This time we are traveling south from Milan to Florence and then connecting to the small walled city, Lucca.   Two years ago we were in Florence and although I enjoyed the city I found it was overrun with tourists.  I am hoping that Lucca is a bit less crowded and more manageable by foot. 

Milan was far more interesting than I expected.  For a big city it was easy to navigate (save my error on our last evening where we found ourselves in a less desirable part of town but were rescued by a couple our age whose daughter attends Boston College) than I expected.  As usual we walked a lot.  My favorite was the  Cimitero Monumentale (Monumental Cemetery).  I have never seen such an extensive collection of ornate, sculpture laden mausoleums and grave stones in my life. 

Amy left this morning from Milan for Seattle.  She was sad to leave Europe but looked forward to the wonderful year she has ahead of her.  She will live in a house in Bellingham with 4 other girls and have a year of learning all sorts of new things.  From my perspective the only downside is cooking, but perhaps she will enjoy cooking more than I do.

Yesterday we joined Amy in a day trip to Locarno, Switzerland.  She met Sidney, a Swiss friend who attended Seattle Central with her.  He is now back in Switzerland and traveled from Zurich just to see Amy.  He was delightful and I think they really enjoyed reconnecting.  Much to our glee, the thundershowers that we expected never materialized and we enjoyed a mild, sunny day.  Locarno is a lovely town at the edge of Lake Maggiore. Mark and I hiked up to the Madonna del Sasso, a monastery precariously perched on the side of the mountain.  Once again we marveled at the risks taken by the workers who endured the heights and sheer drops necessary to construct this magnificent building.  It is truly amazing.

We had quite an interesting train ride back to Milan from Locarno last night.  While looking out the window, I met a man from Poland who does business with a lot of American firms.  During our conversation, he talked about the influx of Americans to Poland.  He hoped that America would rebound economically while he lambasted our poor nutritional habits.   The subject of the American diet was also brought up on the train today by a young Italian bio-tech entrepreneur who is particularly interested in the rise of tumors in the US.  He is convinced that our chemically enhanced food is the culprit.  As a cancer survivor, I find this analysis worth further inquiry.

We also witnessed our first fisticuffs on the ride back to Milan.  Even in a language we didn’t understand, it was upsetting to hear one drunk screaming at another for most of the ride home.  When they started duking it out, I was really concerned but Mark and our new found Polish friend Pieto seemed non-pulsed.  When we arrived in Milan we received handshakes and apologies from all the men.

We are beginning to get a handle on the Italian train system.   There are three levels of trains in Italy.   Even though we have first class Eurrail passes, it is obligatory to purchase a $10E reservation for the AV, ESCITY, and EC trains.  The IE and EXP trains are $3E to reserve a seat but the reservation is not mandatory.  R and RV trains do have reservations.  Thank you to the clerk who finally explained this to us.

September has arrived and with it school is back in session.  For all our friends young and old, happy back to school.  We look forward to fewer tourists and more locals.  Ciao!