August 1, 2026

 ay 4, August 1, 2026 - 

While Gary was going to the Harmon Reunion today, the boys and I got up in Strassburg, France, at the Hotel Rohan. Cute little place with ivy all over the front just steps away from the Cathedral. I opened the window and listened to the Cathedral bells ring for several minutes - so lovely. There are lots of pigeons here and I didn’t notice any bugs. Beau has been in Strassburg several times before, so he took us to some of his haunts. We hit a cheese store and a bakery, and got small portions of several kinds of really stinky cheese. Jack got a baguette. We sat at  a little table in the courtyard outside the bakery and tried the different cheeses on the bread and they were most of them surprisingly good. I only ate a tiny bite of each one, and paid for it later with a bellyache. Jack wanted to go to the Swatch store, so off we went. Then Beau wanted us to see the opera building where he auditioned once, and outside of it was a crepe stand. So Jack got a Nutella crepe in honor of Greta. (The baguette, too.) We meandered back over to the Cathedral because I wanted to see the flying buttresses that I failed to notice yesterday. Awesome, awesome place. 

By then we were pooped again (or I was) so we Ubered to the train station to take the train Beau reserved to Heidelberg, where we planned to see the Castle and ride the Funicular. 

We cut it close several times changing trains, but always made it. Trains don’t run so much on time here and sometimes even get cancelled. 

At the Heidelberg Station, we ordered an Uber to take us to the Castle. UP HILL, a very steep hill to the castle. Purchased tickets. Did I mention that I love how civilized this country is? Bathrooms on the ICE trains, in the cafes, and I only had to pay 1.50 Euro once so far in the train station bathroom. The castle was pretty cool although the weather was hot and there were WAY too many people around. Sorry tourists! 🤪We spent some time in the shade at the little cafe there and again, nice bathrooms. Bet they weren’t like that in the 1100’s! I didn’t get to see the big wine cask when I was here in February a couple years ago. That cask is bigger than some of the houses I’ve lived in. Jack went up to the top of it. 

I think he had a good time. We told him he could go off looking on his own if he wore the Apple Tag, but he wanted to hang with us. Making a Hana’s heart happy. We rode the Funicular down the hill to the town, mostly through a rock tunnel, so nothing to see. In town we walked down to the river and on the bridge a little. 

All so pooped by now, Jack picked a Thai restaurant by the river, which was great except for yellow jackets trying to drink Beau’s coke and Jack’s mango juice. Feeling better, we walked over to the Opera House where Beau auditioned once, and caught an Uber from there back to the Train Station. We spent more money on Ubers than we meant to, but Hana is old. And she appreciated it. 

Back on the trains to Frankfort which were a constant moving target. I’m glad Beau could decipher the DB app, and find the right places to go. Got back to the motel around 10 pm, so another 12 hour day. Did my laundry, as sweating like a pig makes my clothes stinky. I brought two dresses, wash one and wear one and it’s been working pretty well. 

I’m sorry for no pictures. I only brought my phone and it won’t let me post to Blogspot so I’ll have to put some in when I get home. 

July 30, 2026

 

Day 3, July 31, 2026 - today we got up and had a good breakfast at the Hampton hotel.  Headed to the European Central Bank to meet Beau’s friend Des from South Africa, who works there and gave us a tour of the building. It is a pretty incredible place. We had to go through Security, show our passports, get badges and then not take pictures of certain things and promise not to post anything on social media. But we got to go all the way to the top and see the wonderful view of the city. Beau showed us several of the places in town where he had lived before. 

After that we came back to the hotel for a bit and then packed to spend the night in Strasburg tonight. We caught the trains which were running late again of course! Went from Frankfurt down through Manheim to Offenburg. From Offenburg, we exited the ICE train which is the fast train, and then got on a regional train with crying babies and bicycles and crossed over the Rhine River into France and got to Strasbourg. I was really hoping to get to see some of the country west of here where Junior may have been during World War II, but that would’ve taken many buses and many more hours than this trip, which was two hours even so. Still, the terrain would’ve been about the same. It was only 94 or 96° here but we were sweating plenty since we were pretty pooped. 

We went ahead and got an Uber, which let us off actually a long way from our motel because apparently Strassburg has a great big middle area around the cathedral where cars are not allowed to go. But we eventually found where we were going and crashed for a little bit. Then we went to check out the cathedral, which is really amazing.  There are so many stained glass windows that you could stay a year and never see all the details. There are also so many statues inside and out that it would be the same. I bought a little book that talked about what some of it is and we’ll read it and go back tomorrow and see if I can find them again. One thing nice it is free to get in. 

After that Jack and I hit some of the little tourist shops that are around the Square of the cathedral, got rained on with a pop-up storm,  and then we all hit the motel to rest some more. Dinner time was at 8 PM at a very fancy restaurant with very fancy, and very tasty food. I had pork cheeks and noodles and Beau had an assortment of sausages, sauerkraut, potatoes, and escargot. Crème Brûlée for dessert (only two bites!) Jack had nothing because he crashed so hard at the hotel, we couldn’t even wake him up to go to dinner. This was all very late, a lot later than I normally eat. So before we got finished, it was after 10 PM and the Garcon at the restaurant told us about the light show that goes on after 10 o’clock in front of the cathedral. When we exited the restaurant there were people all over the place waiting for this light show. So we videoed until we were sure we could catch the whole thing. And it was REALLY cool. Red lights, blue lights, music and occasionally it would go black and a lady would speak French of some kind. I have no idea what she was saying. Then the music and lights would start again. This lasted for about 10 minutes. And now I’m more than ready to hit the sack. 

Traveling with Jack

Day 1, July 28-29, 2026 - Travel to LEX after picking up Jack at his Uncle Dan and Aunt Emily’s house. All went well. Chagrined that I worried about Jack’s big luggage, when my little pink rolling suitcase would not fit in the overhead bin. I guess if that was the worst of the stress, it wasn’t too bad. United Airline planes are TINY but the men and women running the show were wonderfully helpful and friendly. The layover in Chicago was already long, but a 2.5 hour delay made it a lot longer. Jack seemed happy enough with his Switch and his phone with his girlfriend on the other end! 

We finally boarded on a 9-seat-across, bigger plane, but not much seat room and very skinny aisles. My hips and legs gave me fits a lot of the way there, but I believe I did nap some because I remember waking up about 3 times. Getting into Frankfurt without knowing where we were going was an adventure, and we got in lots of extra steps as we kept going the wrong way and had to turn around. When we finally got to EES (always head towards Baggage Claim) it was a breeze for Jack, and the machine made me try several times to scan my passport and fingerprints. But finally took it! I have rarely been through such a fast and easy border patrol. 

Beau found us at the airport using WhatsApp and the location feature - something else new for me. So we are using WhatsApp for that. 

LOTS of walking today. As it was too early to check in to the hotel, we took the train over to the finanacial district and looked at the bull and the bear and the CEB Building, and stopped for a Starbucks. The bathroom was upstairs and you had to have a code for it. VERY hot today, but the outside sitting area was very nice, with overhead awnings and the breeze helped. Once we checked into the hotel, our first order of business was to find Jack some shoes because he had only brought his Doc Martins and they were starting to chew up his feet. Then we got on a train to cross the Main River to Beau’s haunt to see where he spends a lot of time with friends. We ate at his friend’s restaurant and had a real German meal of Schnitzel and potatoes. Again, the outside seating under shade was very nice. 

After dinner we walked down toward the river, taking pictures and headed toward the little bar on the River Beau goes to. Met his friends Diana, who runs it, and Leopold, who mans it. Still pretty hot, but nice breeze on the river. Jack found the hammock set up on the deck, and enjoyed that while we all talked. The only thing I don’t enjoy about these places is the cigarette smoke that I have gotten used to being without. 

A very nice but tiring walk back to the motel over the river; we got some hopefully lovely night shots of the City line, the full moon and a spider on the bridge. Whew, I should sleep good tonight.

Day 2, July 30, 2026 -

Last night Beau used the DB App to get train tickets for Cologne. I’m trying to decide if the stress of pre-purchasing train tickets when Beau gets  behind is worth it.

Yes. Barely. Because as the trains were always delayed it worked out. It was an overcast day all day, with some sprinkles, which were actually welcome in the 96 degree heat.  The Cologne Cathedral is indescribable.

Huge, ornate, awesome. Full of tourists but still very quiet inside. We could have looked at the stained glass windows for a week and not noticed every detail. I think there may have been three sets of organ pipes. Beau said the Cathedral was the only thing that was not bombed in WWII. 

I must still be pretty tired, because I nearly lost it when we had to pay to get in the Cathedral and we had to do it online. So, standing there outside, Beau was trying to do that but my Visa card got denied. Then my Master Card got denied. Angry and evil is not the way I want to feel outside of a church!! We finally figured out that Beau would pay for it and I’d pay him back. 

The train ride back to Frankfurt was long, 2 hours, but much prettier than the one to Cologne. I saw bunches of castles on tops of hills, and the ICE train followed the Rhine River almost all the way to Frankfurt. Where it was only 100 degrees. We had gotten food at a little grocery store at the train station in Cologne, so we picknicked on the train. In Frankfort we walked around some more, looking at the Dom Cathedral a little, walked by the big Euro Sign and the Old CEB Building, and rode some more regional trains. We ended up at the Kleinmarkthalle where there are lots of booths of food, meat, spices, fruit, etc., but many booths were already closed up for the day. We stopped by a sausage shop run by a 93 year old lady who makes the sausage. I can’t tell you how amazed I was at her. She ran the business with her husband who made the sausages, and then took over making them herself when he passed. They were wonderful! I want to go back before we leave and get some more. Came back to motel for shower and rest and then back out for pub fare. The fountain in front of Alte Oper was gorgeous in the sun and I got a slow shutter speed shot. Planned for tomorrow’s Strassburg adventure. 

Sourdough English Muffins

 So easy! From: healthline-store.com/sourdough-english-muffins-recipe/

Notes: this made 13 with my biscuit cutter. I skip the active sourdough ingredients and just use my own that I have activated at half water half flour. I can’t believe how easy these were. 
ACTIVE SOURDOUGH STARTER INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon sourdough starter
⅓ cup 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 ½ tablespoons water
DOUGH INGREDIENTS:
½ cup active sourdough starter
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ cup cornmeal

Steps

Combine the sourdough starter, milk, (I used oat milk), sugar, (I used Honey), and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Mix well.
Gradually add the flour to the sourdough mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms. The dough should have a slight stickiness, but be manageable.
Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours. (Took mine all day to rise) 
Sprinkle a clean surface with flour and cornmeal.
Turn the dough out onto the surface and sprinkle the top with more flour.
Roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness.
Cut out circles from the dough using a round cookie cutter or English muffin rings.
Place the cut dough circles on a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet, cover lightly, and let them rise again for about 30 minutes.
Over medium heat, heat a skillet or griddle.
Dust the surface lightly with cornmeal.
Place the dough circles on the skillet and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through.
Remove the cooked English muffins from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.
They are best served toasted with butter, jam, or your favorite spread.

Notes

Handling Sticky Dough: If the dough is too sticky to handle, add a little more flour as needed, but try to keep it as light as possible to ensure soft, fluffy muffins. 
Cooking Evenly: Make sure the skillet or griddle is not too hot as the muffins need to cook slowly to allow the insides to cook thoroughly without burning the outside. 

Day 9 - April 8?, 2025

 After the luau, I just fell in the bed and did not get today’s blog done. So now that I’m semi-conscious and ready for a 26 hour day (I think) I’ll talk about yesterday. Gary & Claudia’s cousin Jill and her husband Eric picked us up at the hotel after 9 am, and drove us to a cute little restaurant for breakfast, called The Gazebo. It was a tiny place on the beach, a real gazebo, and we waited in a long line for awhile to get in. Very popular place with the locals. They have umbrellas to keep the sun off of you while you wait. The food was good and plentiful, and for where we are, the prices were good. They had Oma coffee, which I thought was great - much better than Kona. When Claudia went to the bathroom, the little sparrows attacked her leftover macadamia pancakes! We really have to watch the birds as so many restaurants are open-air and the birds like the leftovers.

Rainforest tree with dragon fruit plants.

Breadfruit tree.

At the luau.

Poi on pineapple. The taro that poi is made from is purple. The rolls were purple. And the fried taro I had a different night was purple.

Jill took us to a beach that had a rain forest next to it, and we walked through it. She pointed out trees like the ones our Kona nut necklaces come from, breadfruit trees, Hala trees, the ti plants that hula girls make their skirts from, and the dragon fruit plants that are like orchids growing in other big trees. We saw many mango trees, and papayas - just growing wild. I could get to like this place. We talked about prices and Jill sent me the picture of milk below. After they dropped us off, we went exploring the Whaler’s Village again, and I ate some Tapioca pudding from the ABC market while Claudia shopped some more. I found a cute pair of pants on sale for me - $12.40!! 

Claudia found the trolley for us and we rode back to our room to get ready for the luau. We dressed up as Hawaiian as we could manage and the lei they gave us helped a lot.There was all kinds of Hawaiian food, and I tried poi for the first time, over pineapple. LOTS of pineapple here. I had Kalua pork, P.O.G. chicken, teriyaki beef, noodles, fried rice, a taro roll, some salad, and a Pina colada. No dessert for me, but I didn’t need it. We were entertained by Hawaiian stories, music and dances - some with fire. The cliff-divers dove off the cliff at sunset, and it was a beautiful sunset. All in all, a very good day!

Day 8-April 6, 2025

 Today began with an early and all day long bus ride on the Road to Hana, which stretches from the west side of Maui to the East, and ended with seeing the spume of whales out in the water as we drove back. In between was just beauty upon more beauty. We saw some huge rainbow eucalyptus trees, many beautiful waterfalls, gorgeous and strange flowers, lots of pounding surf in several places, lava tubes (I went in one) and blow-holes (I got drenched by one of those). It rained on us in the rain forest, and on the other side of the island, the sun shone brilliantly. We saw nesting Hawaiian green turtles, and a couple of mongoose. And of course, the ubiquitous chickens. The tour guide who drove our bus was a clone of Joey - looked like him, talked like him - made me think of him all day! Claudia and I ate at the beachfront Monkeypod Restaurant late tonight, and I had saimin (sigh-min) for the first time. It’s a Hawaiian ramen soup that is so popular, it is even on the menu at Mcdonalds. I loved it and now I have to see if I can fix it when I get home. 

Day 7 - April 5, 2025

 On today, Mom’s birthday, I think about how she would hav loved to be on this trip with me. I know she is seeing more beauty now than I am, but this place is sure glorious. We are on Maui now, after an early and quick flight. We immediately did a bus tour to Iao Valley State Park to see the Iao Needle, a tall pointy mountain in a group of majestic mountains, It’s in a rainforest that gets 386” of rain per year. We walked up 134 steps to the top of a knoll so we could see the needle better. Beautiful place! There is lava rock everywhere. The airport is built on it. People don’t have to mow their yards! The beaches are black with it. And still flowers and trees grow in it, and the flowers are vibrant colors. The birds here are gorgeous colors, too. On the way to the hotel, we passed the town that got burned so badly last year, Lahaina. There is a whole long memorial fence going into town for the over 100 people that died in the fire. We got to the hotel, and unwound for about an hour before we bussed to our restaurant for the group dinner. As we de-bussed, we saw our first Hawaiian rainbow! Our dinner was good - a restaurant right on the beach and the kitchen was great about fixing me food. I had grilled mahi mahi, and an amazing dessert made out of Breadfruit called Lilikol Pono Pie.  It had macadamia and coconut crust and topped with strawberries and honey. Slurp! And then since the restaurant was on the beach, I walked down and finally saw a beautiful sunset,  This is one of the beaches you could walk on with real sand, instead of lava rock. 

Day 6 - April 4, 2025

 Today began with a tour of a coffee farm. About 25 minutes from here, in Captain Cook, HI, sits one of 600 coffee farms in the Kona Valley, a small strip of land where coffee grows well on a volcanic base. Bay View Farm will ship you their Kona Coffee, but does not sell it in any stores. I got to taste the medium roast, dark roast, and flavored, and I liked the dark roast best. Our guide took us from pruning the trees, to picking the berries, and doing the many iterations of sifting to finally get the beans to the roasting stage. It explained a lot about why coffee is so expensive!

We next visited PU'UHONUA O HONAUNAU National Historical Park. I got another stamp, and a patch. I did not expect this place of refuge to be so beautiful. The park, as is most of this island, is built on lava rock. The beach is mostly rock, fringed with palm trees, breadfruit trees, and beautiful water. It got hot there and we were all sweating.

Next we stopped at the painted church, a little Catholic church perched high on the hill overlooking the bay.

We got back to the motel for a late lunch, and a short rest. I went to a ukulele class, which was fun. We then headed out to town on the bus for a group dinner, which was the least favorite thing of the day for me, since something I ate made me sick. Anyway, all packed up now for the early airport run tomorrow - Maui!

Had to share a pic of the beautiful plumeria. 

Day 5 - April 3, 2025

 I do not deserve the wonders and amazing sites that I’m getting to see. I don’t deserve the new types of food, like taro and breadfruit and Dole Whip that I’m getting to eat and the people who are waiting on me to make sure I can eat it. I don’t deserve the ability to get some things that I want and to buy gifts for people I love in a place that is so different from where I live.

So I praise the God of Heaven Who is giving me the opportunity to do these things, and hope that I am living His light to people I meet in this place. Today we only went shopping, made beautiful leis from orchids, had an excellent Hawaiian meal of shrimp, taro, breadfruit, and purple sweet potatoes, and watched the surf beat and raise high above the lava beach of this resort. I am beyond happy. 

Day 4 - April 2, 2025

 I am marking things off my bucket list that I didn’t know where on it! The world is an incredible and amazing place, and I wonder anew at how great and smart God is to think of all these things and places! Today we flew early from Honolulu to Hilo on Big Island (Hawai’i) and then drove through Hilo to look at Rainbow Falls. It was a beautiful waterfall, but no rainbow today - we actually started out the day with sunshine in a place that gets over 100 inches of rain in a year. Then we rode the bus to Volcanoes National Park, and I got more stamps for my Passport book (and Phil’s). The bucket list was actually seeing a volcano, and seeing one that is active. Kilauea has been active since 1983, so we saw lots of smoke and way off in the distance some fire. This was a huge area and we were able to look down in the crater. We saw steam vents over the land, and miles of volcanic rock fields where not much grows. We got glimpses of Mauna Loa, a huge volcano. The really incredible check off my bucket list was the black sand beach. Although not exactly sand, more like tiny pebbles, it was definitely black, but the most cool things was getting to climb around on the volcanic rock (mostly smooth with pits and holes) and take pictures of the surf crashing into the rocks and on the beach. I was in photography heaven. We were getting some drizzly rain by then, and overcast clouds so the pictures are a study in monochromatic greys and blacks. I know one of them will make it on my wall! I could have stayed there the rest of the day, but we still had 1.5 hrs to the motel. This was a really long day, and we didn’t get to the motel until after dark, so I’ll report more about it tomorrow when I can see.

Day 3 - April 1, 2025

 Even though being here in Hawaii is a dream come true, it’s the little things that are making this such a great trip. The great breakfast at this hotel. The chickens running around loose everywhere. The plants in the bathrooms. The people that say, “Aloha!” When you walk into their stores. The tour manager who is so patient with us old people who don’t always listen (wow, that sounds like I’m talking about my previous students!). Not getting run over when we cross the street. The reflections on the mirrored skyscrapers.  The shadows of the monkey pod and banyan trees on the green grass. The new types of food - Musubi - which is spam and rice wrapped up with seaweed. Spam is a big deal here - I think they said Hawaii buys the most Spam than any place in the world. Today we started off in a rain forest that had incredible views. Then we went to the palace of the Hawaiian kings, where I saw one of the queen’s dresses made of peacock feathers - how could we live without a dress like that! And then Claudia and I walked around the hotel and beach where there were gift shops and bought some gifts. So now we have to pack up and head to Big Island in the morning at 6:15 am. Good day.

Day 2 - Pearl Harbor

 I have to say a BIG thank you to Prince Waikiki Hotel for the Amazing Breakfast Buffet they served this morning, The best part was the labels they put on everything that said, “NO DAIRY.” (As well as other allergens.) So I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh fruit, bacon, tater tots and other normal things as well as the Prince Fried Rice and a Chicken Sausage and some kimchee. The coffee was good (server said it was a blend of Kona.) 

We boarded a bus to take a tour of Honolulu and then to Pearl Harbor. Our bus driver, Kimo, was amazing and very entertaining - I believe he could be a stand-up comedian. We got to drive by the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. At Pearl Harbor we looked at the memorial stones of killed and survivors, and a museum filled with things about the attack itself. I got Gary a brown t-shirt in the gift shop and the lady mentioned that the brown color came from Kona berries. I had told her I was going to bring my brother some real Kona coffee beans and she said you can get them at Walmart. When I acted skeptical, she said, Really! They keep it locked up because people steal it. I had to laugh. Phil would not drink it if I bought it at Walmart!! Ha Ha - I think I’ll wait until the coffee farm and see if I can get some there. I also found out today that I can’t get Hershey Kisses with macadamia nuts because they don’t make the anymore. Is that sad, or what? But the bus driver gave us some other kind of chocolate covered macadamias, and Claudia said they were good. I’m saving mine for tonight. After the gift shop, we got to ride a boat out to the Arizona Memorial, which is a cemetery although I never thought of it that way before. Very moving and solemn. Even children were quiet. 

So now we are back in the room taking a nap before our community dinner tonight,. It’s in the same restaurant as breakfast so I’m expecting great things. 

Aloha!

In the museum. Wan’t Uncle Leonard a gunner’s mate?

Yes! Great things for dinner. I had really tender grilled chicken and roasted veggies and some really strange ground-up mushroom stuff that I tasted. Tasted like mushrooms! But the wonderful part was dessert. A strawberry sorbet, I think. So fancy and really tasty!

Day 1 - Wakiki

 After a brutal day of traveling over 5000 miles by bus and air, we made it from LEX through DFW to Honolulu. Warm, lovely, 85 degree weather met us, and I saw many of the familiar flowers that were in my Florida yard. With such a big group (41) it took awhile to get all checked in and our room was not ready. So we tried three different places to try to find something to eat, and ended up at McDonalds. Where pigeons walk around on the floor AND ON THE TABLES!! Yuk. After nearly getting run over because I didn’t know how to read the traffic signals, we made it back to the motel. I came down later to meet with Julie the tour director, who was going to walk us over to Wakiki Beach. You can see Diamondhead Volcano from there, and it is all beautiful. A lot of kids surfing. But the beach is rocky and hard to walk on. Not as nice a Venice! I stuck around and found a food truck selling shave ice, so I got one of those and enjoyed getting all sticky. I sat in the warm sun and watched the water and the surfers, and stayed for the sunset. There was a low cloud, so it didn’t take, although it was still pretty. The view from the 8th floor of our motel is beautiful. Now if Claudia and I can get rid of our leg cramps we’ll be ready for a good night’s sleep.,

Day 14 - March 9, 2025

 A pretty fun last day in Greece. We started out eating our oranges at breakfast, and then headed for a last pocket book shop for Claudia. We could hear church bells all over town this morning and it was a beautiful Sunday. Packed up and checked out right at 11. Lee brought the car around and we were off. We didn’t plan on stopping anywhere special on our way back through Corinth to Athens, but when we stopped for gas we ate some oranges, and then when we got a little lost off the interstate we found a bakery. 

Athens itself, however, was a nightmare traffic-wise. Apparently there was a half-marathon going on, and the police had every road that we needed to turn on blocked. Tons of traffic. So we drove around and around until finally they unblocked the road. The Lord was with my son because he stayed calm under pressure. He only blew his horn once! Just like a native anybody. The motel was ready for us and this time we are in a suite with all our beds together. It’s really nice and this one has a shower door that covers the whole shower. Maybe tonight we won’t have a swimming pool in the bathroom floor! 

After disembarking, Lee returned the car and we started our final shopping trek. We ate at Hard Rock Cafe Athens, had a very nice waiter who was dual citizen of Greece and England, so he was easy to understand. Then on the way back we found gelato and I had three scoops of coconut! Yum!

View outside motel balcony this morning. You can see windmills on top of the mountain to the left, and the tiny lighthouse on the spit of land.

Day 13 - March 8, 2025

Frying up fresh loukoumades

Claudia hoofing it uphill. 

The birds next dessert. 

The orange stand in the orange groves. 

Pic above is the temple/hotel/dormitory of Asklepios   The big theatre. 

  At motel breakfast I ate some leftover fava bean spread on pita, some of my oatmeal I brought from home, and some of Lee’s honey he bought in tiny jars to try different kinds. Apparently, thyme honey is popular here and it is pretty good. Today was a car day, and we drove 20 some km to the archaeological site of Mycenae and the museum there This place was a walled city with temples and cemeteries. We saw three cool domed burial chambers that you could walk into and hear your footsteps echoing. 

 Flowers of all colors were blooming; lots of yellow, little purple ones, white ones and red that looked like poppies. This place was high up on a hill that made you feel like you were on top of the world. Lee said Claudia earned her Billy Goat Girl Scout Patch today! The olive trees were loaded, and even though Lee warned me, I picked one and bit into it. While not at all like what you buy in a jar, I could taste the peppery bite and it was very juicy. To get into the city there is a lion gate (you can see two lions on the triangle lintel on top of the open door, and that is the oldest one in Europe - 1250 BC! Still in pretty good shape. Almond trees were blooming too. Just down the hill from here was another tomb - Agamemnon’s, also called the treasury. 

From there we headed through the town of Mykonos looking for anyplace that looked good for lunch. A man was standing outside the Electra, and waved us in, so we went there! I think he and his wife owned it, and she was cooking. We were the only ones in the place, and her food was delicious.Greeks evidently like to give you things complementary, and she gave us Kataifi (said it was ok for me to have). That things was amazing. It’s a Greek spun pastry that tasted like Heaven.

We then drove about 25 miles to Epidavrus, seeing massive amounts of loaded orange trees, windmills, and cute little houses that looked like mailboxes on the way. While also getting lost, we found a small ruin of a theater. Someone there pointed us in the right direction to find the big theatre - the best preserved theatre in Greece that is actually still used, called the Theatre at Epidavrus, or the Theatre of Asklepios. Now that was seriously big and cool and we got to crawl all over it. Greta stood in the center of the stage and emoted Helena’s monologue about Demetrius, and Lee could hear her fair all the way to the top. When I tried to sing Amazing Grace, the docents said no singing allowed. Very strange. Lots of people at this site. We hung around for a long time after looking at all the other ruins there as well. We have certainly seen a lot of ruined stuff. Yes, Julie - it certainly was a fixer-upper!

We stopped by an orange stand on the way back, and bought a bag of around 36 oranges from a guy for 4 euros! So good and sweet. He talked up a storm to us in Greek! We talked back in English! The only words he knew were mandarin, Chicago, America, Putin and Trump. It was funny,

Back to the motel, and then Lee, G and I ventured out to see if the donut shop was open. It was! And they were frying loukoumades right there and we got a dozen fresh ones with walnuts and honey - so good! Then on the way back to pick up Claudia for supper, Lee heard music and found some high school kids singing in a mosque so we stopped for that. Some of the singers had just come in from Choate Prep School in Connecticut, and they did a marvelous job singing Acapella in that domed ceiling space. 

Picked up Claudia and went back to the same place we ate the first night here in Nafpoli - this time trying Calimari, stuffed cabbage, and more fava bean spread. 

Cat count so far - 250.