After
a period distraction and change, I am back… and blogging
I
have retired… It was more work and longer days than expected… It was a distaction... but it is over and life begins
I
retired a week ago… I ended up back at work or in close proximity 4 days in the
next week… It appears work has a gravity not described by Newton or his apples…
the gravitational forces are weakening so there is hope…
On
the upside the house (our house) is clean, cleaner than before when we had a
cleaning service… It turns out I am a pretty good cleaning lady… Of course I
had to bring the work hats home, overwhelming the hat shelf high in the closet… The other things now home cover the dining
room table… I am working my way through the piles…
Beyond
retiring and all that it entails, T and I are off on a trip… Athens, Istanbul,
some miscellaneous Greek islands, Ephesus, Athens a second time, more islands, Ephesus
again, more islands then Athens again… I
am packing… (three days ahead of departure… I feel like I am way ahead of the
curve)… It is also a challenge… 16 days… one small suitcase (up to 50lbs) and a
backpack, international baggage rules, planning for no laundry… several (4)
formal nights, so a suit is in order… We are planning on taking the subway from
the airport to our hotel in Athens, then from downtown to Piraeus to join the
ship… so light and compact is the order of the day. Mid day today I packed the suitcase… checking
off the each item as I packed it on my list (Tina, aka the wife would be sooooo
proud) I didn’t pack the suit… wrinkles
being an issue, but without the suit its about 37 lbs… all is good.
We
have guide books… we have done web research… both of us have been to Greece
before, and Tina has been to Istanbul, twice.
We are joining Sig and Toby, T’s older, older brother and wife and a
couple of friends, and Tanya and Karen, the older sisters, and Erik and Mia,
younger older brother and wife… Erik and Mia are already on a pre-trip
exploring Israel. Sig and Toby are in
Virginia visiting their daughter and family.
We leave Thursday very early… Karen and Tanya follow us a day later… We
will all rendezvous aboard the MV Rydam in Piraeus on Saturday.
Tina
bought up some Turkish Lira from a co-worker… this is the magic of the Google…
you have coworkers from everywhere… an email found three with lira… we now have
lira… This was an issue, as we arrive in Istanbul on Sunday afternoon… and
depart late the next day… the Hagia Sofia is not open on Monday so we need to
rush to see it on Sunday… arriving by cruise ship limits currency exchange opportunities…
so having lira is good.
So,
with 36 hours to go, this is finally becoming a travel blog again…
Randy
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