Celebrating Bob's birthday in Ephesus, Turkey

Visited Mary's house and lit candles in memory of loved ones.  Then spent rest of the day in the ruins of the ancient Ephesus city. Saw the ancient Library of Celcius which was connected to a brothel by tunnel.   Perfect weather but lots of tourists and lots of stray cats (also a dog and 2 puppies) in the ruins.  Then we had a huge buffet of fabulous Turkish food at a resort.  The desserts were amazing!

Livorno and Civitavecchia

So not only does wi-fi become a problem on a ship but our personalities have also changed.  Bob who is typically monosyllabic and rarely talks to people - has transformed into Mr Congeniality.  I expect to see him leading the conga line before we disembark. Paula has rejected all socialization is quite happy to not talk to anyone.  Kelly is drawn to the casino and a machine called Kitty Glitter.  Today we visited an olive farm and had a fabuous tasting of proscuitto and local wine and of course olive oils and bruschetta.  We also stopped in an old village called Tuscana.  i've got great picks and will try to upload them later.  Yesterday we went to a town of canals called Livorno.  It was a town ruled by the Medici's but it seems to have fallen on hard times.  Our tour guide was a female version of the comedian Stephen Wright - very dry, quirky  sense of humor.

Royal Caribbean must make a fortune on slow wi-fi!!!!

Cannes cancelled!!!! Seas too rough to tender to shore.

When the captain announced it was too windy and choppy for us to get in the tender to go to the port of Cannes - we were disappointed.  But when we saw the pilot boat along side our ship just bobbing in the waves - we knew it would not have been a pleasant ride.  So, we spent the day at sea.  Kelly starred in karaoke in the BRitish Pub - a lovely rendition of Lady Gaga Bad Romance.  Will post pics of Kelly and the crew singing, when I figure out where to connect the cable.  Having a lovely time.  Weather is beautiful.

Hotel Casa Camper - no need to fear a place with the word "Camper" in the name. They are spoiling us.

Flamenco dancing, dinner, and halloween costume inspiration.  Then, the Magic Fountains at night.

View from the loo

Vertical garden in hotel courtyard - outside bathroom window.

Barcelona

Having a beautiful Saturday in the city.  This mornings tour with Paco was a great way for us to see the whole city without getting terribly lost and acting disfunctional.  We went to the mediterranean and to the hills of town to see Parc Guell and Sagrada Familia - two Gaudi creations. our hotel is half a block from Las Ramblas  - the big walking street - so yesterday we went to the market and saw fantastical varieties of all kinds of food - mushrooms, meat, fish, vegies, chocolates.  We sat in an outdoor cafe and had sangria and snacks in the midst of all the vendors on Las Ramblas. Then we walked to the Gothic part of town and ran into a huge Catalan Book Festival.  I'll post pics when i figure out how to do it on my prehistoric ipad.  Thanks to a last minute upgrade - courtesy of Bob we had nice big seats on the plane and lots of wine and food and attention.  Tonight we are out on our own and have the opportunity to take the metro to see some flamenco dancers and have dinner and then see the Magical Fountains.  Then we can get lost for hours.

Mosaicuture International Montreal August 2013

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Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

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Tea for Two

we spent the morning in Wolfesboro, NH and then continued the journey that got rained out yesterday. We drove into the country to Frsnklin and visited a lovely English garden called Tarbin Gardens. Five acres of wild, beautiful gardens, with roosters crowing, Scottish Highland cattle, peacocks, Pygmy and dwarf Nigerian goats and parrots. it was noisy with the animals but then we had a lovely English cream tea out in the garden at a tablemunder an umbrella and beside a fountain. the tiered tray of pastries was filled with homemade scones with black currant jelly and Devon cream, Eccles cakes, chocolate cake, linzer cookies and poppyseed cakes. the teapot had a handmade crocheted cost. all the food was baked by the owner of the garden. it was a delicious and lovely afternoon. In the early evening we went down to
Meredith for dinner by the lake and then onto Weirs Beach for a last night.

What time is it?

it's time to eat @a diner. so far we have eaten @ 3 classic aluminum diners. diners and Dunkin Doughnuts seem to be all over New England. the food has been great and the coffee mugs are heavy and indestructible. today we awoke to a temperature in the 60s. It was wonderful to feel cool, ESP. Since we know how hot it is at home. we visited Castle in the Clouds, the arts and craft style home of Robert and Olive Plant. he made his $$$ building and then selling what was the largest shoe factory in the world. He brought Italian stone cutters to the mountain and they cut every stone with 5 sides to make them strong. it was such labor intensive work that in one day a stone cutter could only cut and place 3 stones. on the drive back to the motel it began to storm and when we got got back to our cabin we were greeted with a pile of hail on our door step.

Happy Birthday, Kelly

today Kelly turns 27. Hard to believe so many years have gone by. while she is camping in a very rustic cabin in Vermont, bob and I have stayed in a wide range of accommodations. there are so many cottages in this part of the U.S. You never see them in such numbers farther south or west. we stayed in one "executive cottage" that was a study in brown - wood panelling, rugs, bedspreads, with no a.c. Yuck. This was oOn the hottest days that were in the 90s. The "homemade breakfast" consisted tiny dry muffins and bagels that were just taken out tof the freezer. Bad Tripadvisor! Then we stayed at a lovely cottage with a.c., a jacuzzi, fabulous breakfast, and great pub. today it's back to the 1950s with this very camp-like setting on Lake Winnipesauki. yesterday we went to Glen Ellis Falls, another beautiful riparian (i sound like Hyacynth Bouquet, don't I?) setting with waterfalls, pools and giant rocks. bob took a zip line at Wildcat Mountain and then rode the gondola to the top with me. Tonight was turkey dinner at Hart's Turkey Farm Restaurant after we toured the American Police Motorcycles Museum. the APMM turns out to be a museum full of old Indian and Harley Davidsons because those are the cycles that policemen have used most. oh, also there was a Vespa that police used in the 60s. That was a surprise. we stopped there specifically to take photos for Mark, who has a 46 Indian. I'll post pics of me on a 1948 Indian police motorcycle. Hart's is a family restaurant in Meredith NH that has been in business since 1954. they serve a ton of turkey a day! the place was packed on a Monday so that claim may be true. tomorrow we go to Castle in the Clouds.

Shelburne Farm

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Rivers and Rocks

I've never been one to swim in rivers but New England has changed my mind about that. here in the Green Mountains and the White Mountains the rivers are just made for wading in and cooling off. They are pellucid (a term learned at one of the park exhibits -it's an old word meaning "crystal clear,"), they have pools in among huge smooth rounded rocks, there are waterfalls of every size and often the rivers are running through hemlock forests so you have the fragrance of hemlock, cedar and pine trees. add in the cooling-really chilly water and you have the perfect antidote to a hot summer day. we stopped at Lower Falls and Diana's Bath here in N. Conway. I love the pools where you can just sit and enjoy the sensations very much like sitting in a Japanese Rock garden but with cool clear water instead of sand. of course the slippery rocks and waterfalls are also engaging to daredevils who i know are just one reckless slip away from a concussion. Viva la difference.

Maple syrup

here in Vermont and New Hampshire they love their maple syrup. It goes in everything. I swear that last night's barbecue sauce was loaded with maple syrup. at pancake restaurants (of which there are many) the tabletop condiments are maple syrup, maple sugar and maple spread. back at the Swiss restaurant at Wayside Inn in Bethlehem Vt, chef Victor Hoffman makes a delicious maple nut salad dressing. He gave me the recipe. Here tis:
victor's maple nut dressing
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 cup Dijon mustard (with grains)
1/4 cup hazelnut oil (u can substitute peanut oil)
A little orange juice.

new England Surprise - a heat advisory

today Bob and I sat across from each other, our eyes locked, our hands clasped and we vowed to NEVER EVER book a room without air-conditioning-ever,ever, ever. Our cottage a.k.a. The sweat lodge, has two fans that are useless at pushing around the hot air in this building that was once a drive thru bank. To escape the heat we took the Cog train up to the top of Mt. Washington. the cog train was the first one built in the whole world! It was built in the late 1800s. Besides incredible views from the 6288 ft summit, there is a 40 degree temperature variation between the top and bottom of the mountain. the winds at the summit were blowing at 57 miles per hour with gusts even higher. one of the buildings on the summit is tethered to the ground with chains. We have seen a lot -highlights include watching the artists at Danforth pewter spin pewter to make cups and vases. we spent half a day at Shelburne Museum which had a fabulous exhibit of fashions, 3galleries of 3d paper art, and wonderful Denzler carousel animals. That museum definitely needed at least a whole day to browse. it also had the paddleboat ,the Ticonderoga, a lighthouse and an exhibition of circus photography. Another fAvorite visit was made before we dropped Kelly off at camp. we went to the Maple View Farm, an alpaca farm in Goshen Vermont. we got to pet a3 week old alpaca, take pictures of the babies and their mothers. we learned that alpacas essentially houstrain themselves. The alpaca yarn was the softest I have ever felt -although the thought of working with yarn ( as the sweat drips onto the iPad ) is more than I can bear.

VT or bust

No sooner had Paula taken the wheel, when she hit a big pothole on the NY Thruway and blew a run flat tire on the Mini. Here's a newsflash : Run flats really don't-and nobody but a Mini dealer has these cute little tires. So, Bob and Mini got towed to the nearest dealer, 52miles away in New Jersey. Stuck @ the New Paltz exit P and K met many lovely people, hit the diner 4times, visited an eBay consignment shop and P got a manicure -ove rthe SIX hours it took Bob and Mini to return. At hour five we starting to worry that he was not coming back. 15 and a half hrs later we finished our 7 hour drive in Brandon, VT
Pictures to be added later after i figure out how to do it on the ipad

4th of July

Concord Point Lighthouse in Havre de Grace, Maryland

Wedding @ Voodoo Donuts

Our last day in Portland was a trifecta of fun: first we went to the Rose Parade where there were lots of floats, horses, princesses and even llamas in the 2 hr parade. Then as we were driving to get donuts at Voodoo Donuts Bob spotted a naked bike rider. I only saw him in the mirror - which explains why it is called the "rear view" mirror. Then, after waiting in a long line for donuts we sat down at the only table to devour ours and preparations began for a wedding! We were invited to stay and celebrate Julie and Kevin's nuptials officiated by a "minister" in some kind of blue furry animal outfit. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.