It has been an uneventful few days.  The weather is coolish with overcast skies and a lot of afternoon wind.  We are still doing our walk as early as we can in the morning but the tide is not cooperating at the moment.  So it was about 11AM when we headed down the beach yesterday for our 3.2 mile walk and saw no one and nothing worth taking a photo of.  Because of the winds many of the fishing vessels have been hanging closer to port.

That changed as we got closer to the RV park.  Can you spot the helicopter?

It was very windy.

Trying to land facing into the wind.   The pilot did a great job.

If you look closely you can see the anchor line to the right of the first shrimper.   Definitely need to get this camera in for its third cleanse this season.  However it did come back with some dust spots last time.

Apparently while we were out on the beach an RV came in called ‘Adventure Taxi’.  You can read about them in this blog post from when we met them in Bullhead City last November.  We spoke with them briefly and told them to drop in here on the Isla and say hola as they passed through Mexico.  Sadly we were on the beach and missed them.  There is no room in either RV park  ( we are full for a bit ) and they had to go elsewhere.  Sadly the original team who set up the bus and the trip had to fly home in early January due to a family emergency.  The bus is being driven back to Vancouver by another team of friends.  You can still read about their trip on FB under ‘the Adventure Taxi’.  I wish them well.

Photo taken last November.  Hopefully things will go well for them at the various border crossings with different names on all the paperwork. 

Today was mostly cloudy again with wind so another good day for me to stay inside to do my Europe research.  I went out to take a sunset photo for this post.

I figured that this was the best it would get tonight.

But a tiny bit later I was in for a wonderful surprise.

We spent this past Thursday doing some final grocery shopping for Mexico, rearranging the load in the basement and did laundry.  I am very happy to announce that I will not be doing laundry again until April 2^nd. So happy that we don’t have a washer /dryer in the RV and that while in Mexico we can get all of our laundry washed, dried in the fresh air and folded for 2100 pesos for the entire four months plus that we are there, about $138.00CAD/$104.00USD.  The laundry here was expensive @ 2.50 per load to wash and it took .75 to dry, 10 minutes for .25cents.  The day was very windy, first time I could not keep my hat on.  Before it got much colder Colin dumped the grey, filled the water tank and put the dish away.

Just a few spaces over from us was this 5^th wheel, all decked out in solar panels.

I should have asked if he got a deal on his rent.

It was so cold Thursday night ( it did go down to 44F ) that I put a heater in the bathroom before my shower.

I closed the doors to the kitchen.

…and to the bedroom and was toasty warm when I came out of the shower.  What a treat.

About 6:15PM when it was already pitch dark an RV came in next to us.  He had a difficult time as there was next to no light at all to see where he was.   Colin was talking to Julian the next morning ( yesterday ).  They just purchased their RV in Vancouver in June I believe and have driven East across Canada and have now driven West across the USA.  Next they plan to head South to Patagonia, South America.

Their RV is called “Adventure Taxi” and they can be found on Google which will lead you to their Facebook page and a blog which is not as updated as the previous.   You can find them at www.theadventuretaxi.com  Grete is from Catalonia and Julian is from Australia.  This is part two of their adventure, part one was from London to Bangkok.  They go day by day with no idea where they might be head.  However they do have a tentative route mapped out with a plan.  We just might see them on the Isla in a month or two.  They are traveling fast.  The front basement door is missing!

As we left Kingman we had a 6%downgrade which gave us a lovely view.

Sixty four miles later we arrived at our destination for the next few days.  A very short drive day.  Always nice to get back to Lake Havasu.

We stopped at Walmart.  I have been unable to get a frozen veggie product by Gardein and hoped they would have it here.  They don’t so I am going to have to find a replacement somewhere.  The school bus was being driven by a single woman and she carefully checked the trailer all around once she stopped.  Great idea for a tow vehicle, lots of storage.

Looks like a homemade RV.  Everywhere we have stopped winter clothes are in all of the stores.  I had counted on finding some summer clothes here in Lake Havasu.  Sadly they are featuring winter wear here as well.  I did get one bathing suit top at JC Penney but had hopes for a lot more items.   That will have to wait until we return in the spring.

We are staying at the Lake Havasu State Park.  Our view from where we unhooked the Jeep.  A bit expensive at $35.00 per night but the sites are wonderful and so far apart.

There was only the one site available for this weekend when I booked last August.  We are in site #21 and this is the view from our front window.  We got lucky on this site.

Lots of birds flying at sunset.

Last night for the first time since we left home six weeks ago, I was finally able to start a novel.  Our big adventures and large blogs are over.  Time to relax.

Yesterday, Wednesday, turned out to be much better weather than the forecast.

These photos are from Colin’s early morning walkabout about.

He really does like these trams.

There are many elevators and escalators to help get up and down the hills here in Lisbon. Some are free as are the ones up to the castle while most of the others are covered by a transit pass. We purchased a 24 hour pass for 6EUR/6.78USD/8.95CAD which is good for exactly 24 hours from when it is first validated.  We started out walking and somehow missed the first elevator but I managed to hoof it to the second elevator. Colin says that I am much stronger than from when I started this trip and faster as well. However by the end of the day yesterday I could feel the back of my calves and the front of my thighs.

From the top of the second elevator there is a lovely terrace with a restaurant to sit and enjoy the views or to simply snap some photos. From there you have a few gently slopping streets to climb to get to the entrance of Castelo de S Jorge, a National Monument.  Fee for seniors is 8.5 Euro each. There were no English information pamphlets but upon asking they reached under the counter and gave us one. It has a great deal of important information and a map. We had no idea that the castle and grounds were so large.

A panoramic view from the castle.

From the arrow and three windows to the right are our French door windows.

A part of the castle wall, with what looks to me, defensive slots in the wall.

That is Colin up there waving to me, I chose not to climb the extra stairs and to take a rest.

Taken from that one level up. Colin also climbed to the top of the tower

The Moors built the fortification in the mid – 11th century. During the 12th century came the transition from the Moorish to the Christian world. From there over the centuries it has been a royal residence, a military barracks, a military garrison and was last restored from 1938 – 1940. There is a lot of see as well as some archaeological ruins but its main glory are the stunning views. However it can be dangerous due to the 2-4 inch differences in height between each stone.  With my track record I was extremely careful. In fact I only tripped once yesterday and easily caught myself. I do spend a good deal of my time hanging onto Colin this trip due to all the uneven terrain.

As we were heading down to leave we came upon a wonderful surprise. Some baby birds.

Peacock chicks.

First time I have ever seen peachicks.

After a few hours we came back down the same way passing all the tourist restaurants until we found a very tiny place on a side street. Colin had spotted a cork shop ( Portugal is known for its cork products) right next door. Once we ordered he went to check it out. He was gone a long time and I began to enjoy another nice Portuguese wine. I haven’t tasted a bad one yet, even those at less than two Euro per bottle.

Guess what he bought?

Lovely lunch. Almost the best melt in your mouth salmon ever.

Later we both went into the cork shop together and somehow even though I did not need anything, I was talked into purchasing a pair of cork shoes and an extremely light weight bag. What cinched the deal was the 10% I got off for tax free spending.

More walking and we came to Tram 12, another famous tram route around the very narrow streets of Alfama. This time we got to stay on round trip.

Colin saw this guitar in a window as we passed. Of course he wanted it but we never did get back there. Thank goodness.

Traffic jam along the Tram 12 route.  At one point we passed a live classical guitar concert that was being broadcast speaker after speaker along the tram route we were on.  How very very special, to be able to listen to this concert, as we passed through the area.

The following photos were taken as we traveled this tram route.

Best sunset I have been able to get.

Colin is down there on the left, between the hotel sign on the road and the turquoise colored taxi cab.  He truly is my hero as well as mi amore.

Again we had a full walking day.  By the time I caught up on emails and started the blog neither of us felt like going out for a large meal as lunch had been very filling. So Colin went out to pick us up something light for dinner.  Only one more day left before we start our two days of flying to get home. That in itself promises to be another adventure. But before that we will have another day here in Lisbon to share with you.

This is a bit late as I forgot to publish it.

Sunday was our last full day here in Athens and the plan was to stay in, catch on up things, do laundry and pack for the next leg of our trip and rest.  That is pretty much what we did and having leftovers from the previous dinner made for an easy lunch.  All went well until the laundry part.  Colin was somewhere in this huge apartment making music and I was downloading and editing photos.  I got up to check on the laundry to see a flooded bathroom floor ( where the washing machine was ), creeping along the hall and onto living room hardwood floor  😯 Long story short, the last user had somehow dislodged the drain from the hole in the wall and we had a massive mess to clean up.  Done, laundry outside drying on the provided racks.The only other problem was that my shampoo and conditioner bottles had leaked but my trusty ziplock bag provided containment and no mess.   It was an overcast, coolish day so a good day to stay in and rest up the old body.

When we arrived we were informed of a pigeon sitting on an egg of the back balcony.

I have yet to see a McDonalds here in Athens so I just Googled it.  There are two, the rest closed as the locals prefer their own cuisine  😀  The other thing I noticed is that cars do not honk their horns.  Car alarms go off every now and again but the drivers simply wait patiently for whatever has stopped them.

Just the one egg laid in a plant pot.  Usually they lay two and it takes between 16 – 19 days to hatch.  Sadly we won’t be here that long.  Papa comes in for the night shift while Mamma flies off to do whatever she does.  Yesterday afternoon Papa came by with a tiny twig to add the the wee  but not traditional nest.  She would not get off the egg so he wedged it in under her.  We have taken to feeding them bread crumbs which they love and have provided water.

Did you know that Greek tomatoes and cucumbers are the best?  Every bite so consistently tasty.  I think I could live on Greek salads and a protein like fish or cheese, but then there is the tasty, but heavy breads and tsatsiki.  We have only been drinking the house wines which are very good and sell on average for 5 Euro per 500 ml. Actually that had become my cost meter.  If the wine is higher than that, I figure that the menu has been marked up too much.   We buy somewhat cheaper wine for here in house if we can find it.  So far we have found supermarket wine very expensive unlike Italy and France on last years vacation.

Somehow I don’t think that they have many break ins with the type of deadbolts the doors have. Both Canada and the US could take a few notes.

From one of our favorite restaurants and the only one we have been to twice, including last night.

The tall post has a number of positive sayings in many languages.

In French….I was pretty much on point with my interpretation but decided to check with my French expert Rae for accuracy for you my blog readers.  Tout vient à point” means all that should happen will happen” and “à qui sait attendre” means “to those who know how to wait.” I think that an equivalent English phrase would be something like “Good things come to those who wait,” even if it’s not exactly the same.

We walked two blocks down to find a new place for dinner. We love each restaurant that we have tried thus far in this area but it is always good to keep seeking. The tables here were also at slight angles.  We later found out that this used to be a quiet area and has been discovered in the past few years.  Many locals are coming here to dine in the many great restaurants hence making it very busy.  Sadly that means lots of smokers and we have had to shut our balcony doors a few times as it drifts up here to our third floor apartment.  This place is called Auyepiros and is where we decided to eat.  Turns out they don’t even put ashtrays on the table unless you ask.  How lucky was that for us.  It was a perfect final meal.

I was concerned that we would have problems with the language here, especially reading the street signs, but is hasn’t been an issue at all.  We somehow managed to find everything and to walk everywhere. We spent a total of 13 Euro on three taxis, no need for the metro ( we walked as far as three stations in a few directions ) nor the many buses and trams.  Athens is a very friendly city.  We have felt safe everywhere in our travels over the last few years but there is something special here.  Back in Nice last year folks were unhappier and abrupt and yet I spoke the language fluently.  Remember how Colin got buttermilk thrown on him walking down the street.  We encountered so many brushes with pickpockets in the big cities of Italy.  This really felt like home to us. Despite their economical hardships the Greeks are lovely people.

We started dinner with year another salad and this was the best one ever.  The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and so tasty as was the rest of it.  Good thing we split it. If we weren’t leaving I would be there everyday having that salad for lunch.

I had falafel with more tomatoes and lettuce and really good sauce for the falafel.  I forgot to find out what it was.  Colin had a falafel pita ( wrapped in white on the right ) that had everything I had on my plate in it but in smaller quantities.  He even had some fries in it as well.  The fries were not greasy, almost like they are lightly baked.  I wasn’t going to eat them but they were good.  Of course Colin had some of my food as well.

We ate everything. Dinner was a two thumbs up. Oh the wine was great as well and our best price for only 3 Euro per 500 ml.  We had two bottles 🙂

We both had been hearing the Song Never on a Sunday as we walked.  I was young when I first heard it and did not realize until now that it originated here in Greece. It was nominated for and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song back in 1960.  Anyway Colin just suddenly started playing it when we got home, somehow he knew the music and somehow I knew the words.  We have to polish our act a bit but I think it is a keeper for us.

You can listen to it here.  Listen to it as you read about the end of our time here in Athens.

Our time here in Athens has come to an end. Time for a new adventure. In 90 minutes we are about to head to the Piraeus Port here in Athens to board the Celestyal Crystal. We are off on a seven day cruise of the islands.  As there is no onboard internet unless you sell your firstborn (which I don’t have) to pay the exorbitant daily fee, I have no idea when I will be posting again.  I plan on posting everyday by finding free internet in every port but we shall see what transpires. Please stay tuned for whatever surprise posts I can send your way.

Sunday, May 27th was our first full day in Florence and it was a full day indeed.  We figured out how to get to the Accademia Gallery with transit saving me many steps.  We had prebookded our tickets online @ 29 euros each, the extra 4 euros each allowed us to skip the line which was a good thing due to the length of the line.

My eye was going to get worse before it got better.

Everyone goes to the Accademia to see David.

David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo.

We spent a good deal of time touring each exhibit  but no other photos are being posted.  This is one of Michelangelo’s called prisoners or slaves. This one is called ‘The Atlas”, 1530 – 1534,

This is a description taken from the internet…

All the unfinished statues at the Accademia reveal Michelangelo’s approach and concept of carving. Michelangelo believed the sculptor was a tool of God, not creating but simply revealing the powerful figures already contained in the marble. Michelangelo’s task was only to chip away the excess, to reveal. He worked often for days on end without sleep, keeping for days his boots and clothes, as reported in Vasari’s chronicles about Michelangelo’s passion and talent. One can clearly recognize the grooves from mallet and pointed chisel on the marble surface used in this initial stage. Unlike most sculptors, who prepared a plaster cast model and then marked up their block of marble to know where to chip, Michelangelo mostly worked free hand, starting from the front and working back. These figures emerged from the marble “as though surfacing from a pool of water”, as described in Vasari’s “Lives of the Artists”.

In particular the sculpture shown above…..

Down the corridor on the left is the “Atlas Slave.” The male nude seems to be carrying a huge weight on his head. Hence he is named after Atlas, the primordial Titan who held up the entire world on his shoulders. His head has not emerged from the stone, leading the slave to support and push such a heavy weight, which threatens to compress him. The force of weight pushing down, and that pushing back up, create a vigorous tension. There is no feeling of equilibrium here, only an eternal battle of forces threatening to explode in both directions. This pressure generates a power which perhaps more than the other Slaves, expresses the energy of the figure struggling to emerge from marble.

We went for a walk afterwards.  Just a typical street scene.

The Duomo.

Another angle.  Spectacular colors.

The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria with its copy of Michelangelo’s David statue as well as the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi.  This is where we listened to the music the prior evening.

We also checked out some leather tote bags at the San Lorenzo Market but nothing caught my eye.  As I would walk away a few vendors just kept dropping the price and when I still said no, they said ‘Oh my God’.  I tried to explain that no matter the price I was not interested.

We toured the fabulous Mercado Centrale.  Naturally pizza and wine were on the menu for lunch.

Next on the agenda was our prebooked skip the line visit to the not to be missed Uffizi.

It is a large museum and we walked through all of it. This is a view of the Vecchio Bridge and the Arno River taken through an upper window.

Again I am not showing a lot of the photos we took.  This is one of the four paintings that Michelangelo ever painted.   ‘The Holy Family with the Infant St. John the Baptist (Doni Tondo)’, ?? 1504 – 1507.

Another special painting, Madonna of the Goldfinch.  Painted by Raphael in 1505-1506.  Jesus pets the goldfinch that John the Baptist holds.

Just before we left the Uffizi I went to the bathroom.  Colin had been holding onto me up and down steps and while out walking on the street.  He let me to to the toilet on my own.  There was a corridor and then around the corner, a long staircase. Just as I had come down the long strange staircase and started walking towards the bathroom I had a flash thought of falling.  Next thing I knew, someone was calling ‘senora, senora’ !  I came to, flat on my face.  I was flat on my face ( again my eyeglasses did not break )  and I had a small lump on my forehead and my nose hurt ( it would later turn yellow purple ).  What the heck!!  The couple who found me helped me up, it was not easy and I saw that there was only one tiny 1/4 inch ridge on a stone and of course I tripped over it.

I was stunned but proceeded to the toilet, did my business and was astounded that l looked much the same.  As I headed back to the stairs Colin appeared as he was worried that I was gone so long.  I finally had to ask him to stop scolding me ( in concern of course ) telling me that I should have come back to him and ask for assistance with the stairs and walk to the bathroom as he knew I was tired but at that moment I just needed to sit and get my head back together.  We eventually took a taxi back to the apartment and later Colin went out to the nearest place to get take out pizza which was best described as a four letter word.

Totally amazing that I was still in one piece after three falls, two on face.  The next morning we headed out on yet another adventure.