To Dorothy

Ok, I couldn't resist one more post. I had a great time at our 4th of July party with Bill's mother, Dorothy. She said she was an active follower of the blog and that she wanted to have a copy of some of my photos.

So Dorothy, this one's for you!

Thought I should add a few photos for those of you who are interested. Anyone still out there? This is in front of the Coloseum. Could you guess? Ron is up ahead or taking the photo and Jan and Pete haven't arrived yet. This was on our second day in Rome and we were still trying to hoof it as a group of 10. Looking pretty good!

We were looking pretty good until we wore our feet out! And this was still on day 2. Guess how we felt on day 5 of Rome. I don't think there is one of us who would give back one single step of that trip. We are looking back at each other's photos and wishing we were still there.

Jan and Pete finally arrived! Well, at least we know they are coming back to Rome. A coin in the Trevi Fountain assures a return to Rome and all of us except one tossed their coins in. We'll see if the legend holds true. I'm just not sure I'll be the last one around to tell you about it. And since the other bloggers are handcuffed and cannot blog..... you may never know!

Let me know if you are still reading and if I should post a few more photos. Between my 1,052 photos, Scott's 1,994, Bill's, Dan's, Janet's and John and Sue's, we should have enough to find a few to post. Any requests? The beach at Mykonos? The view from Santorini? The little old lady who sold me a Greek shirt in the Turkish town of Sirince? Perhaps Ron and me in our Blazer shirts at the Acropolis.....

The ship is still moving

Is anyone else still swaying with the Solstice?

Contributors to step up!

Now that we are home, I am hoping we will have more blog contributors. I will add a few photos, especially for our kids who won't sit through the week long photo showing. I am hoping that others on the trip will add all those little anecdotes we've discussed and experienced. I am hoping Jan and Pete will continue our story with new adventures and mostly, I hope we continue to find all the blessings we can in our lives together!

A favorite memory? Add it here!

Fiumicino, JFK and PDX

Tristemente, tutto deve finire! Sadly, everything must come to an end. But in our case the end only means planning for the next. What a trip!

Our close knit little group arose early in Rome to eat our last Italian breakfast and load up the vans. We were having our cappucini (thanks for the grammar lesson, John) and who should arrive in the breakfast room, but Jan and Pete! They were the only ones who could have slept in because they aren't headed home. They are picking up a car at the airport and heading to Orvietto. Their daughters Mackenzie and Zoe are meeting them on Sunday for more of Italy. Lucky buggers!

The rest of us, exhausted from 6 days in Rome and 11 days in Italy, Greece and Turkey, were sad to leave and happy at the prospect of seeing friends and family. I think my puppies might be missing us by now! I know I am missing Mom and Kyle and Lindsey! Our regular driver, Hassan, was there early to pack our bags in the vans and get us to our flight out of Fiumicino. We headed out, keeping our eyes peeled for any last look at Rome which we hadn't seen, perhaps a well dressed women on a vespa in red ribboned sandals. We easily made our flight and settled in for our trip home. Janet wasn't as settled as the rest of as, as she realized that she had dropped her passport! She had it to get on the plane, but didn't see it in her paperwork once she sat in her seat. A little panicked, she looked around the floor nearby. Scott, seeing her searching as he came down the aisle, kept his eyes to the floor. Just as a man was settling in, he shuffled his feet and Scott, out of the corner of his eye, noticed he kicked a little blue folder under his seat. It was a God thing. Scott reached over and picked up Janet's passport. She would never have found it under the seat a number of rows in front of her! That was the second time a Willis came to the rescue!

Everything went fairly well on the flight, at least for us. The woman with 2 small screaming children didn't have as smooth a flight. What a joy to have adult children! We landed at JFK and looked forward to a 4 hour layover. Unfortunately, our flight arrived about 45 minutes early, to extend our NYC time. Unfortunately, Linda didn't get us into a VIP lounge! That was her only job on the whole trip, but we don't blame her. So, don't know that I've spent much time at JKF until now. I didn't realized how blessed I've been all my life to not have flown through JFK before! What a mess! The we were going through customs. For some unknown reason, Delta didn't have the customs forms for us. No problem, they said, they will have a representative at the airport to meet us and give us forms. And we believed them! Silly us! There was no one there from Delta for a full flight from Rome. Finally a short little man with a New York attitude from Customs came out with the forms. He was going to keep control if it killed him. Several people almost did! He decided to give out only the Visa waiver forms first (about 5 people out of the entire plane of about 300 people). Then when a few people reached over to pick up a blank customs form he grabbed them and told us that if we didn't wait patiently he would take the forms and leave, he didn't care if the police came and arrested him, we weren't getting the forms unless we were nice! Short guy, big attitude. A little power hungry. We finally got our forms and made it through customs, even with Linda's over 3 ounce bottle of liquid skin miracle or whatever it was she bought on the ship and didn't pack in the checked baggage. It is nice that the Europeans don't have that 3 ounce rule! She was able to pack it in her checked bags at JKF and not have to sacrifice her skin just to get home! The other snaffu was that John and Sue were missing a bag! Yes, again, a bag gone, but to share the love, it was John and Sue instead of Janet this time. Again, a Voyager to the rescue! Bill, not to be detered, finally found it.

We finally found our gate and sat down for a beer. After the beer, Scott and Dan discovered there were too many duty free shops for us to be the right terminal. So we found the transportation gate and waited for the van to take us to the correct terminal. Judy was happily talking to her kids on the cell phone - it is sure nice to be easily and cheaply connected. We finally got to the correct gate, but after all that trudging from gate to terminal to gate to terminal, we were don't slogging our stuff around and we still had 3 hours to go. Ron and I watched the herd of bags, while others went to sit and have a bit to eat. We weren't quite ready for food or for moving more luggage! I just wanted to sit. And sit we did. The line to Chili's was really slow and the service was slower. It was fine as we had nowhere to go.

Finally, after getting in line to board our flight a little late, I found that at the end of the jetway, there was no plane! We weren't boarding a plane, we were boarding some kind of box on wheels and lifts! As soon as everyone was in the box, it lowered and started driving, or lurching along. We were in that box, thinking we were being shipped UPS instead of flying! We drove around that airport in a box! I still can't believe it. I think the driver was stopping at each plane, rolling down the window and asking if it was the plane to Portland. The entire box of people were roaring with laughter when Ron's suitcase fell over and almost ended the Googins lineage. Once on the tarmac, the two rear doors of the box suddenly popped open. I'll face Rome traffic and vespa near death experiences before I'd ride in one of those again!

We finally found our plane and yes, we were blessed again, the plane wasn't full. We were able to spread out with 1 couple per 3 seats. After about 18 hours of travel, one needs a little space. I think we all slept off and on until we reached Portland and HOME! It was nice to recognize the airport and listen to English! Even on the plane we heard lots of foreign language and the flight attendant doing the announcements was harder to understand than the planes in Italy! The best part for me was walking down to baggage claim and seeing my son. It was so good to see Kyle waiting for us and that was a great hug! I realize how much I did miss being home.

Just so that we realized the extent of our trip, the search wasn't over. We all found our bags, all except, who? John and Kyung Sook! It was the same garment bag that was so slow at customs at JFK. We were so tired, we were headed for the door when John's bag finally was spewed out onto the conveyor. The end of a memorable trip.

But wait! It isn't over! We have a party planned to see each other's photos and update the pedometer!

Pedometer: From the hotel at the airport to the Witcosky home in 17 days, we racked up 295,599 steps. That is about 88.6 miles. No wonder my toes are shorter than they used to be!
Photo update: Between Scott, John and the rest of us, we have shot about 295,599 photos! 150,000 by Scott, 145,00 by John and the rest of us combine to make 599. If we get the chip back from Sue's camera we may well have more photos than steps!

Rome revisited and Jan's Birthday

We landed in Civitavecchia at about 4 in the morning. We packed our bags the night before and they were picked up late in the night. We rose early, around 6:30, packed our pajamas in our carryon luggage. After double checking our rooms for things left behind, we headed to breakfast. John and Dan had the great idea of getting breakfast in the dining room instead of the overcrowded Oceanview Café. We were waited on by about 15 waiters! It was a nice breakfast and we leisurely finished and headed off the boat. All was easy and relaxed until we couldn’t find one of Janet’s suitcases! After 20 minutes or so of looking through thousands of bags, Janet was planning on all the new clothes she would buy when the cruise line paid her to replace her clothes. Darn it all if Judy didn’t find the bag! No new clothes, but at least Janet had something to wear on the plane home. One of our vans was a little late picking us up at the cruise port. Turns out the wait to get to the port was 40 minutes! That was stopped in line after the van got to the port, The line of cars and vans and busses was over 1 km long. We were lucky to have only a short wait and were loaded the flock of bags and headed back to Rome.

Another Italian mattina! We arrived at the hotel, dropped off bags and headed out to do the one last thing we didn’t do in the first 5 days. Some went to St Peter’s, some to Piazza Navona, some to the Pantheon for gelato and some to Intimissi for pajamas! A trip to Europe isn’t complete without a trip to Intimissi, according to Ron. Ron and John and Sue and I were able to walk by the hotel where we stayed with Lindsey and Kyle on our first trip to Rome. We saw the wine bar where Lindsey ordered a sandwich with white truffle oil and I finally figured out what that horrid smell was! Haven’t liked truffles since! So we got a few photos to replace the ones we misplaced from our first trip. I’ll have to photoshop in Lindsey and Kyle 7 years younger. We had lasagne and pizza, beer and vino bianco, walked down Via Condotti, window shopping at Gucci, Ferragamo, Versace, Louis Vitton, Hermes, you name it, if it is a big name and expensive, we walked by the store! After the Pantheon, the best gelato (Fico d’India and kiwi) at Della Palma, we headed back to deposit our bags in our room and blog. You lucky fans!
I hope to get out a few more words from Europe. Today is Jan’s birthday and the plan is to have some dinner together. We will headed to Piazza Navona and try to get gelato at Tre Scalia - the birthplace of Death by Chocolate. That’s the way to celebrate a birthday! I hope to get in a quick review before we head out tomorrow morning for JFK.

Una giornata a Napoli e Sorrento!

Thursday in Napoli!

Ok, everyone is tired of my song by now, but here we are in Naples. We arrived early and Jan, Judy, Scott, John and Sue headed to Pompei and Mt Vesuvius. Dan, Janet, Bill, Linda, Ron and I headed for Sorrento. Pete basked in the quiet of an empty ship and a hot tub. Not a bad idea after 14 days of non stop sight seeing and walking. Sorrento was such a great little town! We took the hydrofoil there, about a 40 minute ride. Coming in from the water was amazing because, like Santorini, it is built on a cliff. The main part of the city is flat but it juts right out into the sea. As you approach from the water, the cliff goes straight up and then the buildings look like they are the top part of the cliff. You don’t want to fall off the balcony there! Then as you walk through town, you come to a little bridge and it drops off into a canyon a couple hundred feet down. In Sorrento, there is a little, famous wood inlay factory. The men, Dan, Bill and Ron, really wanted to see it. The work they do there is amazing, so beautiful. They had a showroom with tea trays, music boxes, pictures for the wall, coffee tables, games tables, many things all beautifully hand made. It is called Notturno. I think they made Pinnochio there. It was fascinating as we toured the factory, just the 6 of us and one other couple. They explained the process in making the inlay and how it is an art form that not many are doing anymore because cheap copies can be done with a laser and put on particle board. These are much less expensive, but don’t last and aren’t as nice as the true hand inlay. It was fun to get a few little things to take home.

Next in Sorrento we went, ok, everybody together now, SHOPPING! I don’t know how we could have shopped so much and bought so little, but it is fun to look at the shops and just browse. We found a really great pizzeria called Aurora. We sat under the umbrellas, had beer and wine and pizza in the birthplace of pizza. Ok, it was invented in Naples, but we were close. We also had a traditional dessert called Sophia Loren. Not telling why it is called that, you’ll have to come to Sorrento yourself to find out. We walked back to the port to catch the hydrofoil. We took a bus into town. It wasn’t far, but up a steep hill. The walk down was easy and beautiful. We had many steps into the crevasse, but then we followed the winding road that the bus took. This road was tiny and with hairpin curves. The small busses had to stop to let cars pass and could barely negotiate the turns. If a bus was coming while you were walking down, you had to hug the rock wall on either side to not get hit. There were plants growing from niches in the wall and everything was beautiful. It had rained in the morning before we arrived, so the streets were wet early in the day, but we were blessed with warm, sunny skies.

On the way to Sorrento, we saw Mt Vesuvius, or at least most of it. The top was covered in a cloud every time we saw it and we were worried that the rest of our group would hike all the way up there and see nothing. Instead, they went to Pompei and saw that. They said it was a great place to see, many ruins, but different from anything else we had seen earlier. Both groups had great experiences, just different. We saw each other back on the ship. We are all a little bushed from all this traveling, but so happy that we have had this chance to be together and see a new part of the world. Another blessing.

We had a sail away party on the back of the boat and watched Naples fade into the distance. Judy took photos of the lighthouses and shed a few tears. Her favorite part is sailing away! We’ve had such a trip, none of us is ready to leave, but I think we are all ready to talk to our kids and families and rest from our vacation! Our last dinner together was very nice, then we all packed our clothes for our last day in Rome.

Wednesday continues on to formal night

Tonight is formal night number 2. We all dressed up in our finery after a day of exercise, pool time, hot tub, casino and even a little Wimbledon on the telly. We had an afternoon cocktail party on the combined decks of Schweitzer, Willis and Swan. Their decks were able to open together and we had enough room for everyone. It was pretty cold, however. We had to wear jackets! That was a first for this trip. We are so lucky, as this little bit of cold weather was a day at sea and not one in one of our ports of call. We sampled pomegranate wine from Sirince, ouzo, and other adult beverages. We also had wonderful appetizers from the room service menu!

I must say this group cleans up nicely. We had a lovely dinner of lobster or prime rib or whatever else stuck our fancy. Each night we have the choice of about 7 entrees. When you can’t decide, they’ll bring you two, right Scott? I think he tried double entrees many a night, along with Pete a few times. Jan, however, always went for the double appetizer or soup course. I don’t think a night went by that Jan didn’t try a cold fruit soup. They really were good, but I just can’t see eating cold fruit after my appetizer and before dinner. I usually went for the salads or a hot soup, like French Onion or lobster bisque. After dinner we posed for a few photos then headed to the show. Tonight was supposed to be the best show of the trip, so we didn’t want to miss it. It turned out to be wonderful! Now I know why the singing wasn’t always the best, because the same people who did the singing and dancing were really there to do the acrobatics - that was their forte! It was a mini Cirque de Soleil. The dancers were on high wires, trapeze, balancing on pointed handholds, juggling boxes or flying over the audience. It really was a great show. A wonderful way to end a formal night.

Birthday celebrations! Bill and Judy

I can’t believe I didn’t blog on Bill’s birthday! Perhaps it was all the celebrating, I was so distracted! We have all been planning little niceties for Bill, we love him so. We’ve been planning all cruise what to do for him. The day was quiet and lovely at sea. During the evening, things got raucous! First off, Linda got a haircut! She has changed her style. She looks so cute and young, you will hardly recognize her when she gets home. It really looks great. Bill says it is a similar style to when they were first dating. Maybe that was on purpose…. The captain had a cocktail party for Bill! He invited everyone who is a member of the Captain’s Club to come celebrate. I guess the captain was so excited that he forgot to wish Bill a happy birthday or even announce it in his talk. Oh well, it was nice to gather everyone together and serve appetizers and drinks just for Bill. On to dinner! We had a great dinner, as always. We decided to give Bill his card and gifts at dinner. Lindsey, you would have loved this part. I think Matt and Melissa might have as well. Bill received a red fez for his birthday! Man, did he look good in that. He also received a jeweled felt hat from Turkey, a fat little fryer leaning on a beer keg from Assisi. By the time Bill got to dinner, I think he had already drunk one of his gifts. I hope someone got some good pictures of Linda’s hair and Bill’s hat, because it was a night to remember. We love you, Bill! Happy Birthday!

Speaking of birthday’s, I didn’t talk about Judy’s birthday on our bon voyage day. I guess I didn’t expect to be the only blogger. For Judy’s birthday, we all met at the Lawn Club. Yes, it has real lawn. I’ve seen them watering and John has seen them mowing. It is amazing how the grass cools things off. It is wonderful and you can see people playing bocce or putting or just sitting in the grass. It was a perfect place to celebrate Judy. We had birthday drinks and sang and toasted Judy. I am sure that a sail away party from Rome to Greece made it a birthday to remember! But, just so she didn’t forget the day, Scott presented her with a gorgeous sapphire ring. Like she wouldn’t remember! Then at dinner, the card and the gifts continued. Not to be outdone by Scott, we got her a cheap little wooden cross with the prayer of St Francis in Italian. Ok, you win, Scott. Judy also got some amber earrings and a keychain with Ramus and Romulus and their shewolf mother from Rome.

All in all, birthday’s are fun when we are all together. We are such a close group, everything is special. AND, we have one more to celebrate. Jan’s birthday is on the day we arrive back in Rome. I am afraid that the celebration won’t start at breakfast at 6:30 when we are supposed to disembark! That would not be memorable! That would be miserable. I think we are going to be a little late to disembark this time.

Our breakfast at sea

We have regained our hour! When we sailed from Italy to Greece they took an hour away from us. We have now returned to Italy time, so we slept an extra hour this morning. It was wonderful to wake and have it still early. Ron and I went to breakfast around 8 and ate our fruit and eggs and muffin. There was a bit of a problem with the rear glass door to the deck from the Oceanview Café. It opens when you walk up to it, but something wasn’t working on the sensor on the outside. Several times people would walk up to the door from the outer deck and the stare as the door didn’t open. They would move around trying to be detected by the sensor. I couldn’t just watch, so I would jump up and open the door from the inside. We were enjoying our coffee and tea when Sue and John arrived. Then the fun began! Several servers tried to go out from the inside and the door stopped working from the inside also. It would try to open, stop at about 1-2 inches open and then close or just stay at that position. One robust woman stuck her fingers in the opening and pushed it open. 6 or 7 servers were trying to get through. It was so fun to watch. Once they opened the door and one server waited, then when he thought it was safe he would jump quickly through with fear in his eyes. The entertainment at breakfast was almost as good as the show last night.

Aren't you glad you are reading this?!? Where else can you get such interesting information?

Athens and the pedometer update you've been waiting for!

Athens at last

We arrived in Piraeus sometime before 5 am, I think. At least I know we were there before 7, when I first cracked my eye open. We had an early breakfast and headed out to meet our guide. We had a great little van and a great little tour guide. She got us to the Acropolis by about 9:10 or so and there were lots of people there already. After a quick stop for some explanations and ticket buying, we headed in. It was just as amazing as all of the photos. We saw the Parthenon. It has been a religious center for 2500 years. I can’t believe that this “holy rock” site dates back to the 5th century BC. We are such a recent addition to civilization. Here in the birthplace of Western Civilization and democracy. We have come a long way, yet so close to us right now, people are still rioting to get a fair democracy. We are still facing the same challenges. Even back as far as the 8th and 7th century BC, Athens was making it’s mark with it’s naval forces and exporting things to Sicily and Egypt and the Black Sea.

We also saw the Temple of Athena Nike. Had my photo taken there in my Blazer playoff t-shirt. It is a sure winner for the Where in the world do you wear your Blazer gear contest! There were olive trees planted everywhere around the hill as the story goes that Athena gave the city the olive tree and taught the people all the things you could do with the fruit. We were also able to see Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Zeus from the hill (Acro (top) polis (of the city) , clever, huh?) When we came out of the Acropolis, I couldn’t believe the sea of people coming in. I was so glad we got up and out a little early today. We’d have never made it through the crowd without the early start. We then headed to the Plaka to have lunch and do a little shopping. We found a nice little taverna and sat outside and ate gyros, Greek salad and Greek beer. Kyle, aren’t you proud? We finally had a gyros for you. I think Dad sent one home for you. Watch the mail.

After lunch we poked around some shops, looked for frappes and knick knacks and headed back to the van. It was a beautiful sunny day, it is supposed to be almost 90 degrees today, but a nice wind kept us cool enough. We did need to keep an eye out for sunglasses for Linda. I think she is on her 4th pair this trip. We went by the first University in the Mediterranean, with statues of Plato and Socrates. On top of pillars were statues of Athena and Zeus. It is incredible to think we are in the place where much of the arts, learning and philosophy were born. A place of Socrates, Pericles, Sophocles and Ifyouplease! Ok, that was a corny one from Ron, but very funny if spoken. I know Lindsey and Kyle are missing their dad and I wanted them to feel just a little at home. And for those of you missing Pete, know he is alive and well and squeaking. Today a little girl came up to him asking for money. He told her he didn’t have any money, but she watched as he touched his own nose and it squeaked! She had the biggest grin ever. She and her little brother laughed and laughed. Then she wanted to check under his tongue to make sure he wasn’t hiding something. It was the happiest she looked since coming over near our group. After that she looked serious again and asked other people for money. Within 2 minutes she was back to see Pete’s nose again. He spreads joy and laughs wherever he goes. You should have seen his waiter the other night when he complained that there was something wrong with the broccoli. The waiter, looking serious came to see what the problem was. When Pete touched it and it squeaked, he jumped back about 3 feet. The entire table was roaring. He called the Head Waiter over. (I capitalized the title because they are very serious, formal guys.) When Pete showed him the problem, he jumped back and roared. Pretty soon there were people from other tables coming to see what was so funny. You can always tell a Christcare fellowship: someone will always be laughing and having fun.

Back on the boat, we will relax for a couple of hours and then be sailing again.

Pedometer update! We hit the 200,000 step mark sometime on Sunday! Our average is certainly going down since we’ve gotten on board, but we still seem to hit at least 15,000 most days. Our total count up til right now is 238,832. We should hit 245,000 today. I still have toes, but the pedicure certainly needs refreshing! And I think I’ve lost most of the soles of my feet. Who needs them anyway? We are in Greece!

After sailing away, drinking ouzo and eating olives and feta, we headed to a show. It was a violinist named Doug Cameron. I would probably not have gone to the show if I had known it was a violinist, but everyone in our group went to see him. We all sat together and the theater was almost empty. Ron and I walked in a little late, so we were at the end of our group. This guy is terrific! He was playing Fiddler on the Roof with the string quartet that has been playing in places all over the ship. The Solstice Orchestra was also backing him. The music was wonderful. Then he played some Mozart. And of course he told some silly jokes. Like when he was talking about different types of music he played, classical, country, Celtic and the continuity of the show. His lame joke of the day was that he hoped we weren’t offended if the show was incontinent. Then a man in front of us got up to leave. He asked the man why he was leaving. The man say he’d be right back. Ron pipes up and says, “Speaking of incontinent…” Doug started to laugh and could barely stop. He played his next piece and then said he couldn’t stop thinking of what had just happened. He played an electric violin, like the one Aaron Meyer plays. The range of music was incredible. He did Iron Man - I am sure just for Kyle. He played The Devil Went Down to Georgia and Orange Blossom Special. During one song he walked out to the audience and played right next to people. He even came and sat in my lap! Still playing, just as fast as he was before. His moving didn’t affect the play at all. He was really quite the showman and very good with his violin. We were then off to dinner and bed to regain our hour! The time changes back to Italian time tonight!

Tomorrow is a day at sea when we will try to let our feet heal. You have to remember that I am not the most active one of the group. There are a few who have probably walked half again as much as I have. I don’t know where they got their feet, but I could use a pair. I am just looking forward to un giorno a Napoli! I think Ron is a little scared that I might break out in song. Actually, I am sure he knows I will! Thanks to Pink Martini and my Italian class, I’ll be belting out Una Notte a Napoli in about 36 hours! Con la luna ed il mare!

Disclaimer!

I am just thinking and typing. I have not taken the time to verify info, it is just as I remember it, mistakes and all. I haven’t looked up those funky words and therefore, I am sure I’ve misspelled and mistyped everywhere. I appreciate your patience in reading and I realize that there are others in the group that I am counting on to correct me!! Where are you guys?

Back to Biblical times and before in Ephesus

Sunday, Fathers Day. I have gotten so mixed up on what day it is that I thought it was Saturday and forgot to wish Ron a happy Father’s Day until sometime after breakfast. Oops! We were up early today so that we could eat breakfast and meet Semih, our guide to Ephesus at 9:30. He was a terrific guide, a college professor at a tourism school and has a degree in linguistics. He was amazingly knowledgeable and obviously a teacher because he explained things so well, asked questions and really held our attention for most of the 8 hours. We learned that the names Ephesus and Asia were derived from one Hittite word for mainland capital. I remember that because we had a test at the end of the tour so we could get college credit for the tour. We saw the ruins of 4 cities of Ephesus. The first two sites we just passed by in our van. These were the oldest sites which were quite a bit inland from the sea. If you know your Bible or history you know that Ephesus is a sea port. Well, it used to be. After passing the first 2 sites of Ephesus, we arrived at the ruins which is the Ephesus of the Biblical times. We walked past the Roman baths, the senate building and theatre. There the governing people could meet together. We say the relief statue of Nike. Man, I wanted my photo taken in front of that relief in my Blazer shirt! Unfortunately, there were so many people around it, I never got the chance. We saw the large homesites with mosaic floors and imagined what it was like the those times. Did you know they had central heating back then?? The upper floors had floors and walls of marble with space in between 2 slabs. The kitchen was below and a heat source and the heat from fires warmed the air that rose between the walls and flooring layers and heated the marble. I think I could have lived then if I had central heating! We continued on to the lower section of town which was the oldest. It was built in the Hellenistic period and had a huge library. It was the 3rd largest in the known world at that time, the largest being in Alexandria. Ephesus was the capital of Asia then or what is now known as Asia Minor. We saw where the marketplace used to be. We saw where John set up shop to sell his tents. He was helped in the town by Aquila and Pricilla. That is where John converted so many to the Christian faith that the people quite buying silver icons of the pagan gods. So who ran him out of town? The silversmith, of course! It was thrilling to be in the same city as so many early, influential Christians. What faith they must have had. We also saw the public theater. John stood on the stage of the theater and Sue and I ran to the top of the seating. It holds 25,000 people. John talked and Sue and I could hear him. It was really fun Of course, Jan did a soft shoe and drew a crowd, I am sure.

After Ephesus, we headed to the Temple of Artemus, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. There is only 1 pillar left standing. We ate lunch at a little home run café called Anton’s with wonderful Turkish food. We had grape leaves, green beans, seaweed, tzatziki and beans. They looked like blackeyed peas, kind of. Our main course was spicy meat balls or a stewed chicken with peppers and egglant or potatoes or bulger. It was wonderful. Ron and Scott also had Turkish coffee and Turkish beer.
After lunch we went to a little town called Sirince. It is a hill town up a winding tiny road with olive groves and peach trees on either side. Ok, a bit of a hill, a steep cliff on one side. Pete would have preferred to have the driver on the other side of the road, away from the dropoff. We had that on the way down when we were going twice as fast. The little town was very cute. We had some time to see the church (at least some of us did, the ones who wanted to tackle the hill to get there). We also had time to shop a bit. It has been really hot in Ephesus, so my sleeveless top was even to heavy and kept me way too hot. I stopped at a little stall to buy a light, white top. The cutest old woman was running the little stall. She looked about 80 years old and was sitting on top of the clothing she was selling on a platform. When I asked for another size she hopped down to find the right thing for me. Then she just climbed right back up to get something else farther back. Quite a nimble woman. She spoke almost no English, but could say the numbers or type them on the adding machine. She was asking 15 Turkish lira for the shirt. As I was thinking if it was the one I wanted, she came down to 10 lira. That is about $6.75. Now how was I to ask to pay less than that?? I guess she knew I couldn’t bargain. Now I needed to take off the HOT shirt and put on the breezy white one. I looked for a WC and a restaurant worker pointed me to the wine shop. What a treat that was! The shop was dark, cool and had free wine tasting. I changed my clothes and they never tried to sell me anything, just shared their facilities. We went back in to show Ron and Pete the store. It had seating about 5 inches off the floor with wonderfully colored pillows and a short table. Old wine bottles decorated the shp and the walls were covered with bottle racks. Again! How I wish I had my cord to download a photo or two! Anyway, instead of hiking to the church or buying trinkets, we tasted a couple of wines, bought a couple of bottles and relaxed among friends. We got a bottle of pomegranate wine and a bottle of 2 year old cherry wine (that is good for cherry wine). It is 17% alcohol by then and quite tasty whereas the pomegranate wine is cold, very little alcohol and quite refreshing. I guess this is the time for cherries in Turkey. Those and mulberries and peaches come soon. I could certainly come back to Turkey!

Back on the road to Kusidasi. There we saw ANOTHER carpet demonstration. They sure know how to sell rugs in this country. Hey all you friend of mine out there. One owner of a shop wants to come to Oregon and have a Tupperware type home party to buy handmade Turkish rugs. Now that is credit points I’d like to earn! After having Turkish coffee, wine, raki and anything else you might want at the carpet store, we headed to the Grand Bazaar to spend the last of our Turkish lira. We did well. I finally had to have Jan bargain to get her gifts with the rest of the lira. She is good at it. I hate bargaining, but Jan knows what she wants and knows what to pay. They had wonderful pashminas, dishes, leather jackets, jewelry, and anything from soup to nuts! We wandered back to the ship for a shower and change before dinner and sailing off into the sunset. Actually, we didn’t sail until midnight, but we have some beautiful sunset pictures anyway!

On to Athens! I am really looking forward to the Acropolis and Athens. Hoopa!

Turkey, its not just whats for dinner. Istanbul is a dream realized!

Turkey! What an entrance! As you sail into Istanbul, you see the the convergence of many waterways., one way is the Aegean Sea, one way to the Black Sea , and we are docked in the Bosporus Sea. I guess I have used the words amazing, beautiful and wonderful too much in these postings, but I am running out of adjectives to describe the overwhelming grandeur of this place. We are inside a very busy harbor, beside a city of 15 million people. The minarets rise in all directions. 95% of the people here are Muslim. On our way into Turkey, they have had several seminars on the ship about the language and shopping. Lucky Linda attended the shopping one and came away winning a Turkish rug! Oh, Bill is quite happy now because he doesn’t have to buy her one in the carpet shops! She was asked to choose the colors and I think they are still waiting for her to decide.

We had a tour here arranged by Scott. He researched the guides on the internet and we chose one to help us get situated and see and hear about some interesting sights. Our tour guide was named Omer. He was very fun and extremely knowledgeable. It is amazing to me how he could tell right away the personalities of the group. He told Linda (our resident shopper) not to drink too much raki with the shop keepers or she might wake up the next day with a mustachioed Turkish husband and no money in her purse. He told Bill just where to find the best Turkish baths and he pegged Jane (Jan to us) as the adventurous trouble maker. He drove us to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia first off. We had lots of information on the way and saw more mosques and a lighthouse on the way for Judy. I was a little overwhelmed when we reached the mosques. They are stunning, huge, beautiful classical buildings with seemingly millions of people swarming around them. Every time we stopped and Omer started to talk, a few people would stand close to listen to him. His English was very good. He is from Capadochia, very well educated even though his father had only 2 years of primary school and his mother no formal education. He has 7 sisters. Poor, outnumbered man! Anyway, we arrived at the mosque about 2. There were so many people that I never thought we’d be able to keep together. It was difficult enough to stay together in Rome. 6 people were about all we could do as a group in Rome and stay together. Here we have 12 and a tour guide and had to stay together. Omer could handle us, however. He marched like he was on a mission and had the best whistle! Yes, Lindsey and Kyle, Dad isn’t the only one who can let us know where he is with a whistle! I wish we had the cord to connect our camera to the computer because I’d love to let you see some photos. I will post some when we get home so that you can see the beautiful domes and minarets and mosaics.

Right across the street is the Hagia Sophia. This was once a Greek Orthodox church. It was started in the 6th century AD or close to that. It was rebuilt on the original sight 2 more times before it was taken over and turned into a mosque. The amazing thing about this sight is that even though the Muslim religion doesn’t allow any faces or icons in their places of worship, none of the Christian symbols were destroyed. They covered them with limestone and whitewash. Sometime in the 1900’s it was turned into a museum and not a place of worship. They began uncovering some of the mosaics and now you can stand at the alter and see the Muslim niche where they held services and see the Islam writings and passages from the Koran and see Christ and the virgin Mary above looking down on you. There are Muslim writings and 12 lambs side by side. You see the huge marble urns for washing before you pray next to a cross in the marble floor. It is an extraordinary sight of the blending of 2 religions. It was a powerful experience.

Next stop was the carpet shop. Yes, they told us all about the Turkish carpets and how much better they are than Persian rugs and so on and so forth, but as they brought each one out, each got more beautiful. It was so amazing to see a rug and then have the person displaying it take a quite flick of the wrist and change the colors from light to dark. The nap and the light change how the rug looks and it is truly beautiful. NO ONE was going to buy a rug and 4 of the 6 couples are taking one home. I know you are curious, but yes, Bill and Linda couldn’t resist and purchased one to go with the one they won in the raffle. We are all delighted with our purchases and can’t wait to see how they look at home. Now that we have made a purchase in a Celebrity shop, we are all entering the contest to win a free cruise and a shopping spree. Whoever wins, we are all joining you and you have to share the shopping spree!

The biggest adventure of all: the Grand Bazaar! What a mad house! It is something like 6,000 shops all under the same roof with 60 streets and 4 times that in salesmen! After an overwhelming zip through with Omer helping the negotiating, we safely arrived back at the bus and back to the ship. Ding, ding, day one over! The only thing we had to do that night was eat, dance and sleep! And dance Jan did! Oh, Jane was the hit of the party! We were dancing and following a short little cruise director, dancing every move he danced until he drug Jan up front and then we followed every dance SHE danced. Yes, sheep, we are all sheep. But it was fun and Jan was the best of the ones dragged up front. Believe me, we slept well!

Next morning. Ok, if this is Tuesday it must be Belgium. Lindsey, that is an old movie, hope you’ve seen it. Catch the reference. It is actually Saturday and we are still in Istanbul. Thank you, Lord, for the extra dayt. Friday was such a rush to see everything that the extra morning was such a blessing. Judy, Scott, Jan, Pete, Sue and I went out to find another adventure. We walked to the Galata Tower and looked at Istanbul from 360 degrees. It was a view to die for! We saw all the mosques and minarets. We saw from sea to shining sea. The harbor was chock full o’ boats and the roof tops were filled with plants and patio furniture, the streets with umbrellas to shade the sun and little people walking around like ants. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world or the 10 lira to take the elevator and climb. After the tower, we worked our way to the river through little shops selling hardware and tools and coffee and skirts. We walked along the Golden Horn and were caught up in a fish market. The fresh fish had water running from bucket to bucket and the salesmen were real fishmongers! We then crossed the Galata Bridge, partly on the lower deck which is filled with restaurants and bars and partly on the top deck where people were fishing. I was never so surprised as when I was walking along a restaurant and saw a fishing line being hauled up with 6 little fish caught! Once a bucket of water was being hauled up and spilled, almost soaking us! What a life! Across the bridge we came to the spice market. Another sight not to be missed. The sights, sounds and smells were a treat for the senses. The people were very friendly and we bought plenty of knick knacks and gifts. Things seemed less expensive than the Grand Bazaar and less hectic and crowded and overwhelming. The place was hopping nonetheless! Sue bargained and bargained and tried to purchase 3 hats for 20 lira. A lira is about 70 cents, maybe. She had them down to 3 hats for 22 lira. Then she asked if she could take the 3 hats and the 16 year old boy selling them and they said yes to 20 lira! Sue always makes friends with the kids. We had to drag her away from the boy fishing. She was talking and talking to him and then fishing with him on the bridge. I think both of those boys will remember Sue and how her friendly manner and joy changed their lives in some way we will never know.

After booking it back to the ship, we shared our treasures and relaxed over lunch and some reflexology, some gambling and whiskey tasting, some martinis and lots of laughs. Some day ask Ron about disposable underwear.

We are now thinking about what it is like to live in a city of 15 million, how one incidental encounter with a person of faith might change the path of your life and how 2 religions can use the same place of worship without destroying the other. God works in amazing ways and we may never know in this lifetime what the impact of our travels are. We don’t know how we our lives intersect and change other lives, but we know they do and we trust that they are used for the greater good.

Tomorrow, Kusidasi and Ephesis!

Greek Island hopping

Update! By Monday, when we left Rome, we had 123,997 steps! That has to be enough to deserve a foot massage on the ship.

Mykonos! Thursday we awoke to a dock. We arrived in Mykonos sometime during the night. Our captain booked it so that we didn’t have to tender, we were able to dock in the port. That meant that we had only to take a short bus ride to town instead of getting on a tender boat and getting transferred. It was really windy in Mykonos and the tender boats were really bouncing around, so we were glad to have been able to walk off the ship. You certainly don’t feel any bouncing on a ship this size! The island is beautiful and not as hot as yesterday. The bouganvea were as big as I have ever seen. They were beautiful purples and oranges and the trunks were as big as oak trees! As we walked through town, Jan bought some soaps as gifts. She was standing outside a shop smelling the soaps she had purchased and the gentleman from the next shop asked to smell them also. He stood for a photo with Jan and then decided he had a better photo op. He went to his back room and brought out his musical instrument. I wish I could tell you the name of it. It looked like a long necked mandolin and played beautiful music and he sang! I am sure the instrument must have been an expensive one, the wood was gorgeous and it sounded amazing. Then he let Jan play. He said it wasn’t about customers, it was about friends. What a nice welcome! We walked around the shops and over to little Venice. The buildings are constructed right on the side of the ocean, so it gets that Venice look of the buildings coming right out of the water. We saw the windmills that used to power the island and had lunch at a taverna right on the water. We had dolmas and calamari and Greek salads with feta and ouzo and yogurt and honey and ever Greek thing we could think of. It was a wonderful meal! After lunch we meandered back through town. Having a large group, it was easy to get separated. Jan, Pete, Bill and Linda walked right into a big fat Greek wedding! The wedding party was right in the street and they had champagne and appetizers and danced with the locals. In Greece, the weddings parade through the streets and everyone is invited. Jan is just the one to join in!

After walking back through town and shopping a little more, Jan, Ron and I hopped a cab to the beach, just a couple of minutes away. That was a grand idea! The beach was almost deserted, we got a couple of lounges chairs under a palapa, swam in the Aegean Sea and sun ourselves! It was idyllic. I can’t wait for someone to ask me where I got my tan! “Oh, I don’t remember, maybe that little beach, where was it? Mykonos! I think that was it.”

Tonight we are cruising to Turkey! We are going to arrive in the afternoon and we have a tour scheduled. I think everyone is excite to see yet another country and culture, this one even more different from our own.

From the deep blue sea to Santorini!

Tuesday was a day at sea. After wearing ourselves out in Rome, a day at sea was just what we needed. Ron and I had a hot stone massage in the morning which did wonders for our sore calves and feet. Just before we went in for the massage, the ship passed through the Stait of Messina, between Sicily and the mainland of Italy. We were about 1 km from shore and were taken through by a pilot boat. Someday I am getting back here and visiting Sicily! Everyone was everywhere on board. We were at the pool, at the hot tub, relaxing on our rooms, enjoying the spa, and doing whatever we wanted. We had another beautiful dinner and Ron and I both were able to resist the desserts, not the wine, but the desserts. It’s a start. I know all you blog followers are anxiously awaiting my step count for the day. Well, I am sorry to say that on our last day in Rome, Sue and I went shopping. While trying on a fantastic skirt, my pedometer broke. It fell on the floor and broke! I know you are all disappointed, but I think it may be coming back to life and I am trying to estimate steps from Ron’s. I do always walk more than he does, so you have to adjust. Promise to get back to you on a total here soon.

On Wednesday we had a morning at sea. JOLENE: This is for you: I exercised! It is true! I know there are more people in this group who are much better than I at exercising, but I was quite proud that Ron and I hit the gym. To be honest, Ron has done his TRX (Steve, this is for you) a couple of times, but a nice elliptical workout was great. It helped my body remember how to operate!

About 2 pm we stopped at Santorini. What a beautiful islands! Greece at last! Now I know why my mom loved her trip here. It is so quaint with the whitewashed houses and blue domes. There are 3 ways to get to the village of Fira after you get ashore in Santorini. The first option is a cable car. It is a sky tram that takes you up a very steep hill. You sit in a small gondola that holds 6 people. The second route is up a trail of switchbacks on a donkey. It is very hot and the donkeys are a bit smelly. The last option, walking behind the donkeys, has it’s own drawbacks. Needless to say, I took the cable car. When you get to the top, it is a magnificent view of the island, the water, the ships. It is a picture postcard! The streets were a little crowded with tourists (us) but the shops were fun and the best part was sitting in a little café, looking over the sea, down the cliffs of white houses and blue doors. We stopped in the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church which was built in the 1800’s. After shopping and poking around, we headed back to the ship for swimming and dinner and relaxing. I think we all agreed, this is the vacation of a lifetime!

Tammy's entry

Get ready. Tam has been off line for a number of days and is about to post a huge entry.

From Rome to the open seas!

I know I haven’t blogged for awhile, but you have to admit, I am the only one taking the time so far to do this, so you can’t complain too much. I know we have a loyal following at West Hills (Hi Jolene!) and all of our other fans, sorry it has taken me so long to blog. What can I say? We are on the ship! There is too much to do. Or not do. It is a huge ship. We can lay beside the pool, gamble in the casino, shop at the jewelry store, eat, drink, or be merry. How is one to choose?

We arrived in Civitavecchia on Monday around 12:30 and were aboard ship by 1:00. The Solstice is an enormous boat! 3,000 passengers, and half are from the US. So we have met people from Kentucky, Seattle, Santa Barbara, Texas, Wisconsin, you name it. It is much easier to speak English to everyone, but not nearly as much fun. I miss the Italian already. I did hear someone in the elevator yesterday asking for dodici (12) and I was very happy. Can’t wait to get back to Giuseppa and our Italian classes.

We had a beautiful bon voyage - Civitavecchia is a port, mostly industrial from what we have seen. The open sea is inviting. Drinks on deck and a wonderful dinner and we were off. On to our next adventure!

Roma senza piedi

Ok, we now have no feet! Only little stubs where our feet used to be. I haven't blogged for a few days, but it has been busy! Friday was our Vatican day. The Pope would have been proud! A group went to Campo di Fiori and a group had a late breakfast (9 is not late in my book!) and set out to join up. Jan and Pete arrived! It was nice to see that they made it safely and were raring to go.

Jan, Pete, Dan, Janet, Ron and I headed out toward Campo di Fiori or Castel San Angelo. We wanted to meet the rest at Campo di Fiori, but got a little sidetracked....aka lost. Never follow Tammy! But I was able to talk to a nice older Italian man eating an ice cream cone. I said in my best Italian "Pua dirmi dove Via Vittorio Emmanuelle?" Can you tell me where Via VE is? He actually understood me and instead of tell me, he walked us there. It was so kind to do. When we found the street and went a few blocks, we stopped to see where we were on the map and found we were 2 blocks from Castel San Angelo. LOTS further than Campo di Fiori. We headed over to Vatican City, Piazza San Pietro and got in line for the Basilica. Blessings abound! Less than 5 minutes after we got in line, Scott and the other half of the group walked up and met us. We had an amazing time viewing the cathedral. We had a chance to pray and gawk and all the statues, mosiacs, tombs, so much! Dan, Janet and I rubbed St Peter's toe for a blessing and Dan watched as we received blessing after blessing! The Swans and Witcoskys went up to the coppula and climbed the 320 steps to the top. Couldn't help thinking of Kyle running up those same steps years ago! I was able to buy souvenirs at the top of St Peter's. I couldn't decide between the rosary and the shot glasses with a photo of the basilica. I went for the shot glasses and a bottle opener with a picture of Pope John Paul.

After the Basilica, Swans and Witcoskys rushed over to the Vatican Museum. By then we had long lost the rest of the group. As we made our way through the museum, we caught up with everyone! Another blessing. We headed home after a full day at the Vatican!

Saturday was a beautiful day! The Googins and the Witcoskys caught a train and headed to Assisi. The rest of the group headed back to Castel San Angelo and other highlights. The train ride was wonderful - all sitting! We had one transfer and we were in Assisi. What a beautiful country! The town was quiet, warm and friendly. We saw the Castle - Rocca Maggiore. You could see the New World from up there! The patchwork of countryside, olive groves, corn fields, sunflowers, made the view magnificent. The buildings were bright and beige with tile roofs, none of the soot black of Rome. We saw the church where St Francis was baptised and the Cathedral at the monastary for the Franciscan Order. It was a wonderful relaxing day, the perfect contrast to the hustle and bustle of Rome.

Today is Sunday, the day to explore the Appian Way. Via Appia Antica, the old road into Rome, where St Peter saw his vision of Christ, where Paul walked into the city. We were able to see the catacombs at San Sebastian. Jan, Pete, Dan and Janet took a little more of a rest Sunday morning, but we were again blessed when we were eating lunch at a wonderful restaurant, we looked up to see Jan walking in to ask directions! We are amazed at every turn at how well everything comes together! Shopping and resting were great ways to spend the late afternoon and tonight we will spend our last day in Rome before the cruise. We will miss the sights and sounds of Roma, but will enjoy a relaxing day at sea tomorrow with Tuesday having no agenda except perhaps a massage!

A piu tardi!

Roma a piede

It is only the second day and we are well on our way to seeing all of Rome! But first, let's finish up our first day.

After our afternoon blog session, we all had different agendas. Some slept, some wondered, all showered! Some of us walked to the Colleseum and past the Forum. Trying to comprehend all the things that have happened on that site in the last few thousand years was impossible. After the walk, we were ready for dinner. Some of us headed to Rinaldi's recommended by the hotel. We had a wonderful bottle of 1964 Guaste Barolo and some great entres, antipasta and pasta piatti. Seafood salad, melone e procuitto, lamb, spaghetti bolonese and gnocchi to name a few. A dinner in Italy is never complete until the biscotti and limoncello arrive! We definitely completed our meal.

I think all slept well. That is a good sign on the first night of a European trip. It was a long day.

We gathered at breakfast and headed back to see the inside of the Colleseum. We love our Roma passes! You skip all the lines and head right in. We enjoyed all of the sights and history of the Colleseum and headed to the Forum. Walking around in the heat and looking at all the ruins was fun, but draining. Scott helped out with the guide book and could keep us up with what we were seeing. After a long stroll walking through years and years of history, we headed back to lunch. We decided on a very Italian spot called the Corks Inn, a cute Irish pub close to the hotel. We had a nice lunch with salads and beer and Linda had the best cappuchino of her life! And she knows her cappuchinos! After lunch we made a quick stop at the hotel and then headed to the tour that we had scheduled to see Rome's underground churches.

We met Frederica near the Colleseum. It is a good thing our hotel is relatively close to the Colleseum, as many times as we have been there in 2 days! She walked us over to Basilica San Clemente. We saw the georgous church where the original "new" apse had not been changed. It was still in the style of the 1200's with the mosiac depiction behind the alter in amazing gold and blues and greens. The mosiac tiles then were made with a layer of glass, a layer of gold leaf and then another layer of glass. It was bright and stunning in the flat, simple style of the era. After seeing the "modern" church, we went below to see the church it had been built on. That structure had been built in the 4th to 6th century. As the Tiber flooded and the silt filled in, the church had been abandoned and another built on top. The Romans were the original recyclers and took pillars from the Forum to build this church. All around you could see pieces of marble gleened from other areas and buildings to make up this church. After seeing this church below a church, we went even lower to see the original church. In 1912, when the lowest floor was discovered and escavated, there was a spring found within the church and water still flows beneath the building. 800 traincar loads of dirt were removed to uncover the original church. It was facinating. Frederica was a great guide and very knowledgeable.

We then headed to the Basilica of Saint John and Paul. It sounds so much better as Giovanni and Paolo! Again we saw the current church, the lower level church it was built on and then the original structure below that. This church was really interesting also. It was originally an apartment building where there were businesses in the entry and living quarters behind. When this church began, it was only a few people meeting in someone's home. It was still illegal to be a Christian at that time. John and Paul were leading services, were found out and killed. 3 other saints, who tried to protect them were also killed, but the church continued on til today.

We stopped after our 3 hour tour, glad that it was mostly underground and cool. We did need to stop for a drink, however, and then hopped a bus back to the hotel. Needless to say, our feet feel the ground we covered today and yesterday! So far, 22,907 steps and we haven't thought about dinner yet! Added to yesterday's roaming, we are pushing 54,000 times that our tootsies have pounded the pavement. My dogs are barking!

The weather is hot and wonderful. A breeze can usually be found and a bicchera di vino biano is a welcome sight! Rome is a romatic city with couples close at every turn. We couldn't be in a better spot!

A Roma!

To be in Rome! It is wonderful! Warm, loud, happy and filled with gelato! What a first day. I looked at the pedometer when we finally got to our hotel room and I'd already booked 20,955 steps! Every one not to be missed. We arose early - 3:45 for a shower, quick bite of fruit and off to the airport. As luck would have it, our shuttle dropped us off just as Scott, Judy, Dan and Janet were disembarking their shuttle. After the requisit airport check in hassle, we boarded for Atlanta. Giuseppa met us at the airport just in case the Italian lessons hadn't quite sunk in. We were bound and determined to stay awake on the flight to Atlanta in order to sleep on the flight to Rome. I think 80% of us were asleep before the plane left our wonderful, green state.

After lunch in Atlanta, we headed for our adventures. We found them! We got to our hotel around 10:30 am to leave our bags behind and explore. Adventures awaited us!

First to the Pantheon! We knew there was a great gelateria near there. First things first! I had melo verde (green apple). Ron indulged in tiramisu. I am not sure what Giuseppa had, but everything looked so good! After a nice gelato, one needs lunch. A nice little spot beside the Pantheon we had a little something to eat, lasagne, procuitto, mozzarella, anything Italian. If only Linda could order an iced coffee, things would have been perfect! She finally got just what she wanted. Thank goodness for Giuseppa!

After food and the Pantheon, we headed to Piazza Navona. Bernini does good work! The fountains were beautiful, though the 4 winds fountain wasn't flowing. After spending a little time a piedi Ron hit the ATM (that one is for you, Lindsey) and we headed to Trevi Fountain. Can one take in so much amazing sculpture in one day? The answer is YES! It, too, was beautiful and the water was flowing. Ron, Tammy, Dan, Janet, Giuseppa and Sue will all be assured a return to Rome. So far, we are not sure about the rest of the group. They will have to toss their coins at a later date.

Some of us were ready to hit the hotel and returned. Not this puppy! After a caffe con latte and an espresso, I was ready to roll! Half of the group headed to the Spanish Steps. We saw the beautful steps and fountain and walked around a bit more before heading back to the hotel. By now we were pretty far from the Hiberia and, frankly, unsure as to where it was. We set out to return for a shower. Somehow we got slightly off track and ended a block or so away from our hotel. When we realized where we needed to be (thank you, John) we started to cross the street. Ron, John, Sue, Dan and Janet crossed the street. Giuseppa and I tried to help another couple from Massachusetts find the Trevi fountain. Since we were a few steps behind, we missed the cross walk sign and had to wait. When the sign changed to green, we began to cross. Here is the beauty of getting just a little lost when traveling. The polizia stopped us from crossing. He held us at the sidewalk for a few minutes and police cars came racing by, followed by innumberable cars with blue lights, sirens, Mercedes, more blue lights, a long white stretch Mercedes. Giuseppa and I looked at each other after we looked at the passenger. It was Momar Khadafi! He is in town for something and he rode away in his white Mercedes right past us. After his car there were about 30 other vehicles until we could finally cross the street. It was quite exciting! Finally we made it back to the hotel for a shower and a cool glass of vino bianco! What a day!

not quite abroad

In Atlanta eating lunch

AND WE ARE OFF!!

Here it is, 3:30am, streatching my back for the long plane ride, praying and patiently waiting to see what adventures await. Judy & I will pick up Dan & Janet and head to PDX where we'll meet up with the rest of eager bunch.

Hard to believe how fast the last 10 months have gone. In fact I was praying God would somehow slow down time so the next 19 days would seem like an eternity. My desire to soak in each moment is immense. The anticipation of adventure is sweeter than honey.

I am going in search of history -- to walk the locations, the culture, and on the very dirt that Paul & Peter, Luther & Constantine walked. I am going to discover another dimension of God and the people of God throughout history.

When next you hear from me, I will be in the Eternal City - Roma!

Scott

It's 3:30 am...

Kyung Sook and I joined Ron and Tammy, Bill and Linda at the PDX Hampton Inn last night at about 9. Nice place, comforable beds - 3 am is way too early! We'll gather in the lobby at 4:15 to catch the shuttle for our 6 am flight to Atlanta. Scott and Judy, Dan and Janet are meeting us at the airport.

Its going to be a long night...

Well folks, its been a year in the dreaming and planning. Its coming down to squeezing in that one more pair of socks. My phrase for the evening has been, "they have stores in Rome." Half of us is ready now. Its nearly 11 pm and the better half just drank a big cup of coffee...its going to be a long night. I just checked upstairs..."Too many clothes. Have to reschedule". Upon further questioning, "repack" is what was meant. Yep, its going to be a long night.

Ok Ron. I'm trying from the iPhone one more time

Can we leave early??

The Willis' are all packed, the cat-sitter is set, the refrigerator is empty, the garbage is out - can we leave a day early?? (BTW - Bill nearly made one of our high school kids hurl when he told the group at lunch today he was going commando!!)

This is a post using SMS

iPhone post

Posted from my iPhone. -- Ron

clothing is optional I thought

I have all my clothes for the next size, if that doesn't work I can try cammando

Bill's baggy pants

I have to say that I am perplexed already about one important thing about this trip. We all have been slimming down, Tammy got new clothes and I got her old ones. I am assuming that other people also passed their clothes down the line. I am just wondering, after we all start eating the delicious food, when do I have to give Tammy her old clothes back? Who has my old clothes? And what happens to Bill at the end of the line? I hope he brings something stretchy or baggy, because he told me he was only bringing Speedos.

Had to buy a new purse could not find the old one. Oh crap here we go again.

Slow to learn

Tammy finally helped me get registered so I could comment. I think she purposefully kept me at bay for fear what I might say. Anyway, I am packed except my swim suit is still not in. Kyle is sick, hope we don't get it and it seems too early for the masks.

Warning! Newbie at work!

So, my turn to blog. Thank you, Lindsey, for setting up this blogspot, but you forgot to tell me how to post! You left town and I was left in the lurch! Not to worry, I am more technically savvy than I thought!
Yes, I am packed. Yes, I have too many bags. I should have left a week ago, when I had just the right amount of clothes packed. I continue to pack as time creeps by and the suitcase(s) continue to grow. I think I am ready now, however, because I can't fit anything else in!
Can't wait to post from under the Italian sun!
Arrivederchi!

To much work- not enough time.  Why do they always find a lot of stuff hat must be done before you canleave town.  I know I have a packing list some where.  I took the class.  All i got was expensive luggage. Some day I am going to learn. I will pack my compass , whistle,and thermomater, key chain. i really got a good deal on that.

Judinio being technoliterate

Ok, so I had to add a post this to test my ability to do this for reals in a few days!! Trying not to FREAK OUT that we are leaving in only four days. Everyone has been strangely quiet this week as I believe we are checking and rechecking our packing lists and battoning down the hatches at work and home. Soon and very soon the adventure will begin!!

Janbo and Dan Bob Checking In

Wow- Molte Grazie Scott for your work on the blog, Va Bene! We have printed our xpress pass and have started the packing process! We are very excited for this amazing journey with our dearest friends!! A Piu Tardi! Janet and Dan

New Adventures in Blogging!

New Adventures in Blogging!

What an opportunity for efficiency, communication, and relationship fun! I guess the idea here is to take time out of our wonderful experience to sit at a computer and jabber about all the great fun we are having while all of our friends and family are hard at work - or at work reading blogs instead of working.

I think all of you readers should know a little about the people who will be the targets of your emerging envy (These photos taken at our pre-trip Mediterrian Dinning Experience:

First of all, our wayward leaders, generous souls, and much less than they used to be - The Witcosky's. In this photo, Tammy is amazed by yet another wonderous sight and Ron is searching for a pathway to schmooz with the Pope.



Next couple of travelers are the Eager Beavers of the bunch, that couple who have been "working" toward this vacation since the last one ended - The Schweitzers. We are in the process of nicknaming this adorable couple, who will soon be celebrating their 40th Wedding Anniversary, as "Grumpy I" and "I'll take that in Red" (which could refer to the wine, the shoes, the hanbag, the jacket, or just about anything else that can be shopped!)
Our group is fortunate to have the immense experience of a couple of world wide travelors in - The Googins'. JohnnyG and SusieK speak more languages and have lived in more countries than all the rest of us put together. We are hoping the techno-wizardry of John and his GPS saves our bacon when we find ourselves lost underground in 2000 year-old catacombs.






Any group of friends would have a twister of a time finding a couple of harder working & kinder hearted people than - The Swan's. And because of this, they probably need this vacation just to get away from it all. Since we are going abroad, we felt this couple needed new Native American names to take with them: "Dan Who Works on Holidays" and "Janet Of The Peaceable Spirit". I promise a photo later on of the two of them sleeping on the beach somewhere doing nothing!






Late to the trip, but by no means last - The Winters. Laid-back Pete and Flexible Jan will be coming late to Roma so they can finish the school year, send one of their kids off to Japan before they take off to join us. When we all begin to experience the sadness of leaving to return to the states, they will be staying on and bringing their daughters over to join them in discovering the rest of Italy. Go For It I say!





Ahhhhh! What a wonderful time I am planning on having with my best friend Judy. It will be her birthday on June 15th - the day we set sail from Roma on our 11 Day Mediterrian Cruise - and the Willis' will be celebrating in style. I am so happy she gets to have a memorable birthday, a "Once in a Lifetime Trip" (which will actually be the second time she has visited most of these places), and a vacation with her best friend and 11 of her really close friends of the past 10 years!






As for me - I am excited. As usual - I am over the top. And yes - I actually did have important stuff to do at work today. Ah, but nothing as important as having fun with my friends! ScottW

Can't post to this with Iphone...

PACK or not

It's Monday still trying to figure it out.  To many clothes not enough bags to but them in.  Oh I known i'll stick some in Linda's.  No I don't think that will work. I'll have to carry a;; the bags any way.  Crap.

Pre-departure!

Hello! This blog will (hopefully) be used to tell wonderful anecdotes from Christcare's trip to Italy, Greece, and Turkey.