THEODORE ROOSEVELT PARK



The Bison Statue

We leave Bismarck at about 8 am. It is still dark and chilly and begins to rain heavily. As it turned out it rained off and on the entire day. The drivers here didn't seem to mind and continued to drive over the limit.
The scenery, when we can see, is endless. Endless sky,endless plains. It is so very easy to imagine looking out over the area and seeing huge herds of bison where now there are cattle and crops, sunflowers, corn and other things I know not what.
We change time zones again at Hebron so now we are again where we began this morning - time wise.
All along we have been looking for signs of FRACKING. Here we are in Dickenson, ND and see the first indication of fracking. Building housing units, RV, motels galore. Flames from new wells, pumps dot the landscape with the accompanying tanks and machinery. All the while farms stretched to the horizon.

A highlight is Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Pete is anxious to see what we can see even with the rain. Fortunately, the rain turned to a drizzle as we pulled in and Pete said, "Look at the statue of the bison." I looked up and the statue moved! Yes, there were several very, very large bison grazing at the information stop. Photos, yes, without getting chased.

The view of the badlands from there is more than a camera can record. Amazing, and it brings to mind a memory of that first trip across country in 1959 when I was 21 and first married and came upon the badlands in Wyoming. That was when I was positive that I was being taken to the end of the known world. The Craters of the Moon and Yellowstone did nothing to dissuade me of this impression.

Here the leaves have pretty much changed and are gorgeous. Now for the first time since Utah or so we see tall mountains in the distance. Now the clouds are close to the ground laden with water again ready to dump over the landscape.

Yikes, snow on a mountain near the entrance to Yellowstone. Sun going down now dark to the left of us, shinning sun on the buttes and mountains to the right. Time to find a place for the night.

Livingston, Montana is where we are.

BADLANDS IN THEODORE ROOSEVELT PARK

TWO DAYS OF DRIVING





MY 4 x 6 PAINTING (because my camera is out of order)


 Sunday, early start from our economy motel - more later - heading toward Omaha, Nebraska.The scenery is about the same and it is still warm 84 degrees or so. In Kansas City we glimpsed the King Stadium where the the Royals play. It has been smoggy!!!???? Notice that the Rest Stops are "modern" in that there is wifi and then there are those that are "regular". On this long part of the trip we passed the time by relearning some of the state capitals.

We noticed many solar panels on homes and buildings. When we stopped for gas we paid $3.05. Made our usual Sunday phone calls to Tom and Joan. We were in Iowa by the time we talked to Joan who was born there. Went across the Missouri River on which we noticed riverboats and thought that would be an interesting trip.

We entered South Dakota at about 1:30 pm after we had driven what seemed like another long trip. Just a note of trivia, there are signs that warn that the interstate highways can be closed if lights are flashing and in order to do this there are gates. There is some very severe weather in this part of the country.

Stayed at a Residence Inn by Marriott on Sunday night in Sioux Falls. Lovely room for two tired travelers. A good nights sleep and off today to Fargo, ND and beyond. The morning is a soft grey and it is 57 degrees outside. Soon we are driving through VERY foggy with some light mist. When the sun comes out now and then we see that the leaves here are turning fast and we realize that we are almost as far north as you can get in the US and have been in Corpus Christi almost as far south as you can get.

We continued in the drizzle and went across the Continental Divide. Today we entertained one another first with the crossword puzzle and then, while I was driving, Pete read aloud some of the book club book, "Reading Like a Writer". Driving the last 100 miles today was easier than in the morning. The highway was straight and quiet and never crowded. We also found Sirius Radio very entertaining.

A room tonight in Comfort Inn Suites in Bismarck, ND, which brings me back to motels in general. We have been lucky getting very nice rooms with prices from $69 (not so good) to Holiday Inn Express high of $134. The best was the Residence Inn. Anyway, thinking about motels made me harken back to the first time we drove across country in 1959. The motels were not much and were not abundant. I remember one night, being young and having driven until well after dark in the middle of nowhere, we could find no place to sleep and pulled over on the side of the road to wake up the next morning with a big cow staring in my window. I was frightened never having been so close to a cow or maybe it was a bull. Of course, there were no cell phones, no phones along the road side and very few rest stops. We went from Virginia to Boston, called home. Then from Boston to Chicago before being able to call home again. From Chicago to Seattle not calling home at all. My parents were in the dark as to how their precious daughter was doing. After all I was going to an unknown part of the world, Seattle, where Indians and cows roamed the streets. LOL

We will try to stop at Roosevelt Park and continue on tomorrow to see how far we can get.

THE EARTHEN MOUNDS OF CAHOKIA

We had driven so long on Friday that this am we were almost at our destination.  Cahokia Mounds, the largest prehistoric Indian city north of Mexico.  The mounds covered about 4000 acres and there were at least 120 mounds.  Farmers took down many but this site, which is a World Heritage Site, 




Monks Mound Cahokia

protects the central portion, about 70 mounds.  The largest is Monks Mound which reminds us so much of the Teotihuacan in Mexico is pictured here.  The area was first settled in about AD 700 and from AD 800 - 1000 the culture was highly structured and complex.  Corn, at first, was grown for food then for trade from this area down the Mississippi.

The mounds were built by hand over many years and are ceremonial, homes for elite and burial mounds.

About 20,0000 people may have lived here in the hay day. It was a bigger city than London at one time. Around the year AD1200 the population began to decline and eventually (1300's) the city and surrounding population was almost abandoned. It may have been over population,climate change, war, either from outside or inside, or a number of other conditions all leading to the demise.

Yes, we enjoyed it thoroughly. Walked over the beautiful parklike area, saw wild turkeys and lots of birds. The Museum has wonderful educational exhibits and is extremely interesting and well done. So we started at 8:45 and stayed until 11:45. Then again took off , this time thru Missouri. Pete says he could write a tale about Missouri drivers. The highway was extremely congested for the first 70 miles or so but after a while it was okay. Lots of trucks. Drivers who hang out in the left lane enticing other drivers to tailgate closer than I have ever seen.
Anyway, here we are now in Sweet Springs, Missouri where the catfish was good and the people friendly. Tomorrow is another day full of surprises.

VERY LONG DRIVE FOR OLD FOLKS

On Friday we drove thru West Virginia's beautiful hill country to Kentucky. The roads were good and not much traffic.  There has been some road work in almost every state we have been in.  Again we enjoyed beautiful scenery.  Can't say enough about the beauty of the United States.  We love every place we have been.  Friendly people everywhere, of course. 

In Louisville, Kentucky we spotted what we thought was a capital dome?  In Louisville?  No, the dome was a golden one on top of a very tall building. 
We saw the KFC center, the Ohio River and very attractive architecture in the city. 

Traveled 121 miles thru Indiana and noticed that the deciduous trees  were interspersed with some evergreens now.  Pines, cedars and spruce.  The farms are growing soy beans and hay on the gently rolling hills. 

In the afternoon the temperature was close to 85 degrees.  We are now in central time and the land has begun to be flatter. Many humongous farms.  WE DROVE TOO FAR!!!!

Stopped for the night on the east side of the Mississippi.  I was really tired even though Pete did the driving. 


BLUE CRABS

VISITING RELATIVES



The Man on the Potomac

Have been very busy visiting, talking, listening and having fun with my sister and brother, sister in law, nieces and nephews and new little babies. My camera is out of order so I will try to post a photo from Pete's Kindle.

We were served with my sister in law's super crab cakes first thing. I was supposed to share but didn't. They were scrumptous. My older brother looks great after major health problems. I slept in the same room I slept in from the time I was about 8 until I was 17. Some improvements (air conditioning) have been made but we didn't have to use the air conditioning.
The next day my sister made a delicious lunch and we chatted for at least 2 hours. Back to my brother's house (my old house) on the Potomac river where we ate again and chatted some more. So much fun being with them. Met two of my sister's grandchildren. They are both extremely photogenic. Met my brother's granddaughter who was just born. She is absolutely gorgeous. Said goodbye to all yesterday and left early this morning (Thursday).

Drove from Dahlgren, Virginia. Stopped at Chancellorsville Battlefied where we enjoyed an updated visitors center that is extremely well done. On through the Virginia horse country which is absolutely beautiful and then through the mountains to Charleston, West Virginia where tonight we are resting. Along the way, we enjoyed the most beautiful scenery. Leaves just beginning to change in some higher areas. We would love to take that drive in a couple of weeks when all of the leaves will be changed and colorful.

We are doing well and hope to get close to St. Louis tomorrow. We want to visit Cohokia. Tell you about it tomorrow if I can get wifi.

FLORIDA TO SOUTH CAROLINA

Today (Sat. 20th) we left Tallahassee and drove again on the I10.  The long, long straight highway with tall pines, swampy areas and not too much traffic.  Not too many bill boards in this state but a few off to the side.  Nothing like the forests of billboards in LA. and MI.  Anyway it begins to rain again.  Really, really hard rain.  No see rain.  The rain in Seattle takes a back seat to most of the rain we have seen on this trip.  We have seen rain in every state from New Mexico to Florida.  I hope they appreciate it. 

Pete competed his goal!!!! He has completed the Interstate 10 from Los Angeles, California to Jacksonville, Florida. Yay!!!!

Ate in a local restaurant tonight.  I made the wrong choice today.  Oh well.  

Early on Bourbon Street Random Photo

BREAKFAST IN MISSISSIPPI, GAS IN ALABAMA, LUNCH IN FLORIDA

Yes, what a day!!!

Just what it says up there.

We actually left from Louisianna and ate breakfast in Mississippi - somewhere - then drove thru to Alabama where we GOT GAS FOR $2.96 PER GALLON. Nice low east coast price.

We drove on straight thru Alabama (short coast line) trying to find NPR because other than very tall, very abundant billboards, the highway was straight and miles and miles of piney woods and swamps. Hey, it was pretty but lots of it.

Pensacola, Florida is just across the line from Alabama and Pete lived there from the time he was 6 months until 4 or 5 so he wanted to visit the Naval Aviation Museum. We spent some time there looking at the planes his father flew and imagining his father being a flight instructor from 1934 until 1940. Pete has vague memories of the later years, when he was 3 to 5, of times with his mother, father and baby sister. After a nice walk around, we returned to the car and thought we would stay on the back roads to Panama City because we had lots of time, right? But we got tired of the traffic and stop lights and headed back to I10. But before we did, we stopped for lunch at Arby's - not so good.

Pete is determined to fulfill his goal of driving the entirety of Interstate 10. We seemed to cover a lot of miles in a short time. Stopped in Tallahassee for the night where we were lucky to get a room since there will be a big football game today. Clemson vs FSU. Everyone was reved. We have been staying in Sleep Inns and find them excellent and priced right. We had dinner in Florida too at Waffle House and that wasn't bad if you made the right choices.

Had really good wifi service last night and again tonight making it a lot less frustrating to write and check up on things.

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANNA

Pete is enchanted by New Orleans!



One of the many buskers

Now can I continue? Our hotel is right on Bourbon Street, Four Points by Sheraton. We made reservations online the night before. Arrived about 2 hours before our room was ready so checked in and took care of our luggage and car and off we went. Well, I was not doing too well with the walking after all of the sitting and it was probably 88 degrees with 98% humidity. We did go to the Jackson Street Park and saw the paddle wheel take off. Got back, our room was just ready and a very nice one. That evening Pete went out and tried to get me up on my feet to see the crowds on the streets.

We took an excellent City Tour the next day with a wonderful, knowledgeable guide - John. John had the most cajun accent and we all loved it. I appreciated him pointing out different signs left from Katrina and relating his own experiences. We saw several different neighborhoods which are making a come back with people fixing up their homes. Saw lines on signs showing the height of the water also chalk notes on houses. We saw the French Quarter, the Garden District, the French market and, Pete’s favorite the cemetery. It was interesting, of course, all burials are above ground because the water table is so close and if there is a flood or a good rain, the caskets would rise. Most of the “tombs” are elaborate and most, that we saw, are very old. We were told that a tomb has two shelves. The body is put in the upper chamber for 1 year and 1day and then is taken out and the bones and dust is put in an urn leaving the tomb free to be used again. Voila! Resurrection. We weren’t allowed to step on the grass because we might or would get bitten by fire ants.

Yes, we did see the Harry Connick Music Town and the home that Nicolas Cage recently managed to sell. We ate beignets and drank iced coffee and suffered from the heat during the day. The evening was very nice. By the way, there is a definite smell to New Orleans but I did see the city workers using a pressure washer with disinfectant cleaning the inside of the stinky garbage cans which were ever present on the streets.

No, we can’t move on without talking about the food. I have eaten more fried foods on this trip than I have in years and years and it was GOOD. Oysters, fish, shrimp and crab. Yum.

We did go out after dinner and walked Bourbon Street along with many many other people looking at people and those who were asking to be looked at. Buskers painted and posing, playing all sorts of instruments. Hawkers trying to get us in to the Barely Legal night club and live Music inside every establishment competing with one another. Bourbon Street is closed to traffic and people set up shows. In front of our hotel a very popular show with two young men doing break dancing. Drew a big crowd.


We enjoyed our New Orleans adventure and are impressed with the friendliness of the people.
We left early the next morning.

FROM PADRE ISLAND, TX to NEW ORLEANS, LA

Our trip resumes......




Pelican



View from Doc's Restaurant

We drove along the Texas Tropical Trail for miles and miles. Very rich farm country where we saw fields covered with white egrets. We seemed to be alone on the 2 lane highway for a time. In Refugio, Tx we saw many large old classic southern homes, some in disrepair but many well kept. And then came the RAIN!!! A downpour off and on for miles where we could barely see the car in front of us. The scenery changes (when we can see), the trees are taller and there is more green. HOUSTON - still raining hard, gully washers, dumping for miles. Cars driving with no lights, black clouds so low they touch the ground. Then sprinkles. Now bare and dry. Stopped at a rest stop when it got so tiring before Beaumont, Tx. More rain. Stopped for gas in Orange, Tx OMG it is hot as hell and so humid it is hard to breathe. We have been on I10 for 880 miles just in Texas.
Now in Louisianna - Stay the night in Sulphur, LA. Lots of oil refineries thus the name. Rain at night. Lake Charles is beauiful, green and neat. Land is cultivated for sugar cane. We ran into more traffic here than all other parts of trip so far. I10 is a busy highway between Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. 
Lake Ponchatrain Causeway is an amazing engineering feat. 24 miles of elevated highway - bridge - over the lake. There is a $3.00 toll and interestingly enough there are various turnarounds. There is also a drawbridge. The lake is huge and looks like an inland sea. It was very quiet when we went over but Katrina in 2005 sent it into New Orleans with a vengence.




Lake Ponchatrain Causeway



VISITING MY FIRST COUSIN IN ALPINE

I am haveing a difficult time this time doing anything on this blog.  I start and stop and have problems with inserting photos but here I go again trying to catch up. 

We had a very nice almost week in Ruidoso, New Mexico.  Then traveled on to Alpine, Texas.  That trip was quite easy driving at a high speed.  Lots of desert scenery.  We found my cousin in Alpine and visited for a couple of hours.  It was so wonderful seeing her again after 55 years.  I don't think we would have recognized each other if we had been on some street but it was just a treat.  She and her husband have the ultimate cat - two - Maine Coon!!!  They are absolutely beautiful and I fell in love with them.  They are both very active in retirement.  He paints!  Really lovely compositions and brushwork.  She volunteers at museum and library and hospital and I am sure I couldn't keep up with her.
   We spent the night in Ft. Stockton, Texas and the next morning we left headed to San Antonio. Another easy, high speed trip.  Very good, quiet roads made the miles fly by.  Arrived after noon at Pete's sister's and brother in law's beautiful home.  The next morning we caravanned down to Padre Island stopping first for lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.  The rental house is gorgeous and in a beautiful spot.  The back door leads to the canal and T rented a boat today so we can explore the inner coast and see birds.  I think tonight we will use it to travel to the restaurant for dinner.  They are very hospitable and are showing us the sights.  Good thing too because we probably won't come this way again.  We love the beach and the birds.

Susan and Pete at Padre Island

2014 ROAD TRIP FIRST PART

Planning and thinking about this trip seemed to take a very long time. Many of our friends, especiallly Pete's friends, said we were insane to do this - at our age. Well, we did take those comments and more into consideration along with on and off aches and pains, but we decided this was doable and probably the next to the last road trip of its kind. (We have another planned.) We began on Monday, Sept 1st from Seattle. The Interstates were practically empty and so the going was good. Around 2pm at Baker City, Oregon we did run into traffic and road work. We stopped early in Ontario, Oregon. The scenery to this point was beautiful but familiar. Lots of large farms, wheat, corn, grapes and so forth. The skies clear blue and beautiful. On Tuesday as we went through Salt Lake City, I noticed miles of bad air. Layer after layer of smog or something. Such a disappointment to see so much pollution in such a gorgeous area. The next day was spectacular scenery to Moab, Utah. Unbelievable rock formations, rocks, huge mesa's of varied colors. I loved the colors in the ground coverings - every imaginable shade and tint of green and gold. Pete did have some back pain but not bad just irritating that he couldn't bend down with the same agility as he was used to. It is better now. A very good samaratan in Gallop,NM heard Pete speaking to Tom on the phone and insisted upon giving Pete a brand new back support for his seat. (He isn't sure that it helped but maybe it did and if we have a chance we will give it to some other traveler.) Yesterday, Thursday, we reached Ruidoso, NM and our condo for a week. It is located high up in the mountains and has bears residing in the area. Yes, it is beautiful and not too hot. There has been some rain here and it is DRAMATIC. Lightening strikes in the mountains and flash floods to be watched for. The skies are amazing!!!! Humongous billowy white clouds hanging over the mountains and above them darker storm clouds. We saw many, many beautiful horses and lots of cattle that looked sleek and happy grazing on open range. Tomorrow we will play 9 holes of golf and see how it goes. We do need the exercise. While we are in this area we will visit as many of the local sights as possible. Today we went to the Casino and gave them about $20 but didn't enjoy it so much because the 1cent machines are fake and you still have to play 50 cents. I don't like that and besides even with the air filtering that they had it still was a bit smokey. I am trying to insert a photo or two but the internet is slow. Later.....

BLUE MOSQUE AND TOPKAPI

We took a tour today. Walked around to the Blue Mosque and took our shoes off and went inside. Really is very beautiful and since it is in use, it is interesting that they let people in without charge. Just cover your head and take your shoes off. We only saw that one mosque - our tour guide said “if you have seen one mosque you’ve seen them all”. Then we went to the Harem rooms at Topkapi Palace. The harem rooms were the family rooms of the palace, not just for the concubines. The gardens of the palace were beautiful. There are 4 large gardens. The tour guide said we were lucky that there were so few people in Istanbul ---- I CERTAINLY DO NOT WANT TO BE THERE WHEN IT WAS CROWDED! It was hard to see things for all of the people. We were “let go” in the bazaar but we weren’t sure we found it. Nice spice shops, lots of rugs, scarves, leather and jewelry of all kinds and prices. Yep, we bought some scarves. Found our leader and went for a slow bus drive through parts of the city. There are about 17 million people here in Istanbul and Turkey is about 40 million I think. They have thousands of refugees from Syria here now. Istanbul has about 50 universities so lots of young people. I guess the cost of living is very high in the Europe side especially. A great many people live on the other side and all day long the harbor is filled with people ferries coming and going. This is the busiest harbor I have seen yet. Of course we had a nice dinner and watched a show. The next day we were in Instanbul also so we took a hop on hop off bus. It is easy to see lots on these things from the top because the traffic is so bad they only go slow. However, it was cold and windy up there. We went over the bridge across the Bospherous to the other side and turned around and came back. Saw a VERY crowded spice market and crowds every where so Pete and I decided we had gotten too cold and got off at the Port. Just because we were in sight of the ship did not mean the shopping opportunities were over. Get your perfume, hand bags rungs right here madam! We had the next two days on the ship at sea. Finished a couple of books and did a lot of visiting. Saw two excellent shows. Last nights show was extraordinary. Great dance and acrobatics. Today we are in Naples. Everyone went ashore but I stayed aboard ship because I have a sore throat and it is not necessarily warm. I am enjoying the time alone - well, there are a few others here but not many. We are going to celebrate our last dinner in “Le Bistro” tonight, try to get checked in at the airlines, pay our bill and pack. I’m almost done with that packing bit. We leave the ship tomorrow morning, go to the airport (for a few hours), fly to Amsterdam, sleep overnight, leave Amsterdam in the morning of Sunday and get home in the morning of the same day I think. Sorry this blog has been lacking in information - history , etc. The access to the internet limits my ability to run on and on., Later.

Some of Istanbul

It’s raining! This is the first rain we have had in this month cruising. We are expecting a long day today from 1 pm and hope that it will cease to rain sometime during our tour. We are prepared however. Hoods and umbrellas at hand. We left Ismir yesterday at about 6 pm and have been at sea since. We expect to get into Istanbul by about noon. We are now in the Sea of Mara Mara, went through the Dardanelles during the night and early this morning. Istanbul is mostly in Europe on the Bospherous Strait but some of the city is in Asia Minor across the Bospherous. Oh yes, Turkey has Lira not the Euro, so we will have to gather a few of those to spend today and tomorrow.. I have been avoiding talking about the food and the effects of my consumption of it,, but now I will give you a clue - weight watchers here I come. It really doesn’t seem as if I have overloaded at any one meal but I think maybe I don’t always eat three meals a day. I sure have walked each day but suppose I should have done even more. We will see when I get home just how much I will have to add (exercise) and subtract (food). That doesn’t make me happy. I also miss painting with my friends. Guess I’ll just have to stay home from now on. More tomorrow.

GREECE AND TURKEY

PIRAEUS, ATHENS & THE ACROPOLIS Our tour to the Acropolis was in the morning of Saturday. Once we got there, the crowds were tremendous but not as many people as the Vatican. Anyway, a short climb to a magnificent location. I do believe that I managed to get a few pretty good photos. I thought that I might be getting a little blasé about ancient buildings but not these. It was a great adventure. We drove around Piraeus where the ship is docked. This place, too, was bombed during the war so Piraeus is mostly new and we really didn’t see much of Athens. Except for the Acropolis, this was not our best tour. Today we took what we thought was a little tour of Izmir (Smyrna in Biblical times), Turkey. Our guide spoke the best English of all. We visited the ruins from the Roman times. The city was founded 8500 years ago according to the archeological evidence but as of now they don’t know exactly who those people were. Those ruins were still being excavated and it just seemed to me to be more “approachable” and interesting. Water is still running thru the terracotta pipes. Next we stopped in a square and visited in the narrow streets. It was Sunday and only a few (still a lot) of the shops were open. We stopped for Turkish coffee and a sweet in a very authentic little coffee shop. One of the customers spoke English so he took our orders. After returning to the bus, we were taken to a Turkish rug finishing and distributing shop. We were shown the wool that is used and told how they send the wool out to the different small villages where the women weave the rugs. The government will pay for the girls to learn to weave if they are not taught at home. They give them a salary too during this time. Child labor is not used in Turkey although to us 16 seems young. Anyway it was so interesting to see a young woman working on double knotting a carpet. She was doing about 200 knots per inch but some of the silk rugs are 500 knots per inch. Of course they showed up many, many rugs and gave us good price. Really. The salesman we got has been to Seattle. His wife is Greek from Shoreline and she is beautiful. He has two daughters one of which is going to be working in TV in New York. She was trained by Joyce Taylor from - is it KIRO or one of those stations. Joe and MicK bought a rug and he did give them a very good price.. Lots of other stuff --- but now we are one the ship, resting and reading and writing. Tomorrow we are in Istanbul, Turkey.

At Sea and Katakolon, Greece

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY Thursday at sea. Great day. No pressure. Sunny on deck. Pete and I walked three times around the deck for a walk of a little over a mile. Pete’s cold or allergy or whatever used up at least a box of Kleenex, then landed in his chest. But he seemed to feel okay. We had a very nice dinner at Teppanyaki, a Japanese restaurant, with the chef juggling eggs and slicing and dicing and entertaining us while he cooked our meal right in front of us. After dinner we played shuffleboard - first Joe and Michelle beat us - and then Helen and Doug beat us. Well, they had been playing all week and this was our first game. Friday, Greece. - Katakolon - We decided not to book an excursion. Near this town, is Olympia where the first games were held, but instead we ate a leisurely breakfast and walked ashore on our own. The town is so close to the port and to the ship. It is very small, like maybe Ketchikan, and when the cruise ships come in they are there to sell souveniers and coffee and lunch and whatever. Lovely people. We also visited an Museum of Ancient Greek Technology. Bought a postcard and stamp and sent it out to Christi. After our walk into and around town, we came aboard, ate lunch, walked around the ship. Tomorrow we visit Athens.

PALERMO AND NAPLES AND POMPEI

PALERMO AND NAPLES We had a very nice day in Palermo. The city was quiet because it was Monday after Easter and many people were out of town for vacation. The city is surrounded by the Mountains Pelegrino.. There are about 700,000 people in the city. The patron saint is St. Rosalie. She didn’t want to marry the man her father chose for her, she wanted to be a nun. So she ran away to the mountains and found a grotto where she lived her life praying. She died and at some point another girl found her bones and a hunter took them into Palermo where they were having a plague. The plague was stopped by the bones of St. Rosalie. So there you have it. We passed by a monument to the victims of the Maffioso ???? Are there still Mafia? Don’t know. They killed a priest in the 1990’s so who knows. We went into the cathedral and saw a couple of other churches. BUT the best part of the tour was being able to go inside a palazzo and have a noble man, Conte Federico, and his wife give us a tour of this house which is 800 years old and built on the walls of the old town. There is a tower which is the only one left in the city. A lot of the city of Palermo is newer because, if you remember, this is the place that General Patton wanted to get to before Montgomery. The palace has been lived in continuously by this family. A branch of King Federico that lived because they were not legitimate. The house was beautifully preserved and our hosts were very gracious. We had a glass of wine with them. The city was not as clean as the northern cities but that may have been because of the holidays. It became quite warm but nice. NAPLES AND POMPEI Today was a little overcast in Naples. We notice that this city is a lot dirtier and trashy and there are shack areas with mounds of trash around. We gather from this that there are hard times and a lot of unemployed poor people. Pompei is awesome to say the least. I guess I never expected it to be soooo large. 75% of the city has been excavated but the last 25% remains because people built on top of the ruins. Enough is there to show the way of life, the roads which have the grooves in the stones from the wagons so many years ago. We saw the bakery, the red light district where the men choose what they wanted by pointing to frescos on the walls. The frescos are still there and leave very little to the imagination. There are theaters where the gladiators practiced and a smaller one which had water running beneath the marble floor creating excellent acoustics for concerts. Market places, and of course, the casts of the dead showing how they tried to cover their faces from the gases. There are what seems like thousands of household items and large vessels. You just have to see it. It’s way old. Tomorrow back to Rome to disembark a group and then continue on to Greece and Turkey.

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy on Easter Sunday

Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy on Easter Sunday Last night we had a delicious steak dinner. Yes, we paid extra to go to the steak restaurant. This cruise has various places to eat. The “free” ones are very large and serve many meals so it is quite noisy. There are several other small restaurants that require reservations and a “cover” charge. Other than the cover charge, the meals are provided except for the wine. Food in these restaurants seems to be a notch above - well, it should be - right. Anyway, we all splurged and had a good time. After, we stopped by the star lounge for the end of an excellent show. Then Pete and I went to another lounge where there is a dance floor. We had to dance one dance just to report that we did indeed dance. There were only two other couples dancing and they must have been taking lessons at home. They were quite good and just watching gave me a work out. This morning we left the ship for a short tour of Cagliari. Cagliari is a very small city but5 has a very active port. The history here is also hectic: It was settled millenia ago a couple of times. Then in 800 BC it was settled by the Phoenicians. In 500 BC the Carthaginians occupied Cagliari, they were defeated by the Romans in 238 BC. Then there were the Goths and Vandals, Bizentines. Then the Muslims in about 533 AD until the beginning of the 11th century. In 1016 the Muslims were defeated by the the Bizentines, 1198 a change, 1323 another, then in 1707 it was ruled by Spain. In 1720 the Pope gave it to the Duke of Savoy who became king. 1770 it became a part of Italy under one of the Savoy Kings. 1946 it was made a republic by Italy. You have to believe all of this or look it up for yourself. I’m not certain of all of the dates. Our guide today was absolutely amazing with all of the information and dates and species of birds and plants and history of all of the area and buildings. It was hard to keep up with him. There are lots of Flamingos here now. In 1997 or so they stopped migrating from here and stayed for some reason. At that time there were about 7000 now there are about 40,000. The island makes salt from the sea, there used to be silver mines, they farm in the sea, oysters, mussels and clams. The buildings are, of course, very beautiful. The modern ones, they were shelled during the 2nd world war, are not so beautiful. The island is very green with lots of palm trees and jacaranda trees and many pines. Tomorrow is Palarmo. I think tonight I will go to the casino, Ciao!!!

Unimaginative Post

My posts have been few and far between. Internet costs more than I expected and I am soooo busy. Everywhere we have been has been very clean - amazingly clean with all of the people. We have visited Livorno, Italy, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Toulon, France, Barcelona, Spain and Valencia, Spain. Each city has been crowded with tourists. We just returned from Valencia which was not as crowded. Valencia is a city that I think I would like to stay in for longer. It doesn’t have the Gaudi Church or other international monuments but it is smaller and just seems easier. The fact that they speak Spanish helps too. I wasn’t very good in Italian. There is a beautiful Opera House here in Valencia. I hope I am able to add a photo to this post of something. The weather everywhere has been perfect. Couldn’t be better. A nice breeze in mid day in Barcelona which was the warmest tour so far. Of course, we have visited many churches and cathedral’s and learned lots of history of each of the areas. These are old places (duh) and it is interesting to see the remains of the Romans and before. Just imagining life in the cities before electricity, water, sewer etc and everyone living in large buildings boggles the mind. Well, my mind anyway. We have had very good service on the ship, good food and entertainment. I don’t think it is fair to compare it to our smaller river cruises though so I won’t. Tomorrow we were supposed to visit Tunis but the Tunisians have said that Israel Nationals can’t go ashore so we will visit Palma, Mallorca. I think we will go ashore on our own if possible to see what we can see. Friday. We did not sign up for a tour but walked and took a hop on hop off bus all around the city. The population is about 350,000 so it isn’t huge but it is a large port. Three cruise ships and a yacht transport were here at this pier and there are others. There is a beautiful marina with many sail boats and yachts. There is a light breeze today and many sail boats are out. The water is a beautiful blue. The town was settled by the Romans in 153 BC. (Just relating a few facts that I could hear over the noise.) There is a cathedral whose interior was one of Gaudi’s projects. Juan Miro lived here and I think died here. The author Gabriel Garcia Marquez rewrote his last book here in Mallorca. He just died yesterday and the newspapers here are full of his life and accomplishments. Many famous people lived and worked here and I can see why. The atmosphere is relaxing and easy. The air is clear and clean. So my question is ----- if all of these cities can keep there streets clean --- why can’t Seattle do it too. This morning we went into town early - before 10 - the streets and alleys were absolutely clean. Looked like they had been washed and picked up during the night. In Valencia, we were touring early also and saw probably 20 people in one section of a park cleaning up after the big big soccer celebration. The rest of the city had already been cleared. Also there is very little graffiti. I did see some but not much at all.

ON THE SHIP

On the ship now. Yesterday we saw the Pantheon and St. Mary’s on Minerva where Galileo was sentenced to death. They didn’t kill him and he lived to be 77. He wasn’t supposed to spread the word about the world being round. The amazing thing about all of Rome is, as I have said before, that there is so much left from almost 2000 years ago. The people are beautiful and there are a lot of them. Also many, many tourists just like us. We stopped for lunch at a nice little street trattoria and made our way back to the hotel. For dinner we were recommended a restaurant “Taverena Flauvia”. It was quite a walk and a bit pricey but we enjoyed great service and excellent food. This morning (Sat.) we had a 1 and ½ hour drive to the port. Beautiful countryside scenery. Which reminds me of another incident, something happened to Pete’s camera and we don’t think we are going to bother trying to fix it and rely for now on my small camera. We are in our very large stateroom, because we were mistakenly assigned a handicapped room. Norwegian called twice we told them we didn’t need it just change us but they couldn’t seem to do that and finally we ended up with this large room. Our luggage hasn’t arrived yet. Hope that doesn’t go wrong. Nope here it is. Tomorrow we visit Livorno. I’ll give you a report. Livorno - it must be Sunday! We took a trip to Frattoria (farm) in Tuscany. The bus ride through the countryside was very nice. The scenery is worthwhile coming back to see again. At the farm, we met the winemaker farmer whose family has lived on the land and in the house for many many years. The house was built in the 1600’s (I could be wrong but that’s what I remember). He shared with us 5 wines that he makes. One white, 3 reds and 1 sweet. They were all very good. They also make olive oil so I bought a sample. Pete bought two bottles of wine which we took back to the ship and Norwegean charged a corking fee of 15 Euros EACH! This drove Joe up the wall but we drank one of his bottles with dinner. Yes, they charge for a lot of stuff that used to be a lot more affordable. Internet connection is 15 cents per MINUTE and sometimes you can’t really get on. Such is life. Monte Carlo - Monday. Had to tender in today. Our tour only touched the surface of Monte Carlo and Monaco I guess because they really don’t want tourists to actually see anything except the outside of buildings. Learned a lot about how the very rich live here. We were allowed in the cathedral. The casino wouldn’t let us in until 2 and all of the tours were over by then. This place is very clean and police presence is everywhere. Throw a piece of paper on the street and get caught - you pay 30 E right then. The police are all from France and are meant to be very strict. Only walk in crosswalks. Of course, you take your life in your hands walking on streets that are race tracks even before the stands are all set up. We did enjoy our day and came back to lunch on the ship in the sun.

CRUISE 2014

I have had some problems with the blog but that seems to be solved now. Yes, we got to Rome, very very jet lagged. There were various little incidents getting here and everyone seemed to have at least one "incident". Rome is breathtaking at first sight. The hugeness of the ruins. I love the trees. We arrived on a Tuesday and of course I slept after checking into the hotel. Had a nice dinner closeby and went to sleep again. Wednesday as you probably know the Pope waves from the Vatican. First we bought some tickets to various places and the Metro. We got on the open air bus to have a city orientation, made a complete circuit and then we made our way to the Red Line to go to the Vatican (along with about 200,000 others). Pete was pickpocketed by young girl getting on the Metro. The girl and her compatriots then hopped off just as the doors closed. Gone was the wallet. Oh, well. We made it to the Vatican anyway and witnessed the HUGE throng. Not being THAT interested we found our comfort in food and a place to sit along with the other masses. Happy masses. The weather is perfect, cool in the morning and just right in the afternoon. Thursday was the big day - after breakfast here at the hotel - we walked to the Colliseum. What an awesome building and a lot of it still left after 2000 years. And the viaduct in Seattle is 50 years and crumbling. Had a wonderful tour of the Colliseum and the Forum. So much information, I'll not relate here, you'll just have to come yourself or read your Geographics. Still awe inspiring and amazing. We did a lot of walking and were all hungry. We started at about 9:30 and it was 2:30 when we climbed out of the Forum. Took a taxi back to hotel and ate at a small restaurant outside our hotel. I rested and rested until this morning. Unbelieveable but I was out. No dinner and not caring . Much better today expecting to go to the Bogessese Museum and Spanish steps with everyone but Doug and Pete. They will do their own thing. Tomorrow we make our way to the Port and get on the Norwegean Jade to begin our cruise.