More Day Eight

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bio, Cruise, Trips, Turkey

The so-called House of the Virgin Mary was yawn time, but I should brag that I did visit it. I didn’t fill the terracotta jug the guide gave us with water from her spring,  but I did light a candle. I forgot to make a wish though even though the guide said every wish he made here came true.

Our guide was Khan,  whom I thought of as the rug merchant, most interested in time for selling carpet. Khan had  emphasized that he would avoid crowds as he took us to locations,  and that was true.

After a carpet weaving exhibition that was more interesting than I expected we had a tasty lunch at a Lakeside (where did that come from?) hotel.

Ephesus was last on the tour and was quite impressive – certainly more vast (in one place) than anything to be seen in Athens. Ephesus has not been restored as thoroughly nor as carefully as the Roman forum that I found myself comparing it to especially in land area covered.

Day Eight Turkey and Ephesus

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bio, Cruise, Trips, Turkey

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Up at 5 and waiting for the omelet chef to start working as the ship prepares to dock at Izmir. Whoops I had to break off to get my omelet.

Not so many at breakfast as yesterday implying not so many planning to tour here as Athens. People pick a place to tour based on whether their friends know it. “Everyone knows Athens so we’ll go there. Ephesus? Where’s that? Nah, not going to Ephesus!”

Day Seven Athens and The Acropolis

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bio, Cruise, Greece, Trips

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Where did the Number 72, as 72 steps up to the Acropolis come from? I lost count around 100 and others said my count was low.

But the steps and the heat won’t stand out in my memories as much as not finding the tour bus in the small parking lot where it was supposed to be. Finally I found it and got on.  Now the problem is the parking lot is closed and the driver must find another way out.

This really isn’t the best photo I took but maybe best with this camera phone.

Day Six Dubrovnik

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bio, Croatia, Cruise, Trips

Dubrovnik, Croatia was the place. Supposedly one of the most beautiful places in the world. I would agree but what I know mostly is their ice cream is good though unusual and their cable car is hard to find but spectacular.

Day Five – First Day on Ship

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bio, Cruise, Trips

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Wandered the ship around 3:30 AM then back to bed until 6AM. When I dropped by the cafeteria a cleaner named Ferdinand got me freshly ground coffee.

What led me to this trip was a desire to see the Dalmatian Coast yet this picture shows all I could see even by 10:30 this morning after starting looking around 8.

Finally when I came out around 11 the haze had lifted, and I could see the shore.

And then there’s sitting in a lounge staring out a window after learning you won’t be ferried to shore for another hour or more.

Day Four Leaving Venice

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bio, Cruise, Italy, Trips

Day 4 is the day for leaving Venice and embarking on the Norwegian Jade cruise ship. Some views of that are here.

First I wanted to talk about transportation in Venice. With no cars and buses and without roads they can travel on what’s left is valporetti (plural of valporetto) and walking.

I got the impression the principal income in Venice from tourists must be what we pay for a vaporetto pass: 18 euros for 24 hours which in American dollars is about $27.

Back to leaving Venice: after a delicious lunch at the newly re-discovered osteria and picking up my bags left at the B&B I took a vaporetto to Piazzale Roma. My best guess was I would have to walk about half a mile in the sun to reach the ship. Forty-five minutes later after walking what must have been more than a mile  a sweaty exhausted me arrived at the ship.

Day Three in Venice

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bio, Cruise, Italy, Trips

Of course the obvious question is what became of Day One and Day Two? They are drifting away from me in that foggy sea of memory. Let’s see: after being packed into the tiny area Air France calls a seat I landed at Charles De Gaulle  airport where I planned to spend a relaxing productive time between flights.  Instead I had to quick-step to Terminal 2F (more than a mile) for my connecting flight to Venice.

At least when I finally got to the gate women from Air France helped load my belongings into the security X-ray,  very different from going through security in the USA.

Anyway I finally got to this little Venice B&B. Gosh this is supposed to be about Day 3 and what I now remember of Day 3 is spending the morning from 9:30 on looking (systematically I hope) for the simple osteria I had eaten lunch at the first day I visited San Marco square fifteen or more years before. Every subsequent trip to Venice I’ve searched in vain for it. This time I found it (Osteria De Campana, 4720 Calle Dei Fabbri) when, exhausted,  I was about to give up!

The wifi I was counting on in this little (let’s say “tiny”) B&B apartment doesn’t work on my smart phone.  But the woman and her husband are so helpful how can I complain — take the washer-dryer I couldn’t find: I had spilled wine on my shirt and Levis on the plane. She said to give them to her and yesterday when I came in I saw them hanging on her patio. Later they arrived neatly folded on my little couch.

My time in Venice was actually Day Three, part of Day Four before boarding the ship and Day Eleven after returning from the cruise. It almost felt like home.

Don’t Sell “The Donald” Short

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United States, Wisdom I Have Learned

Without a powerful and increasingly hated monied upper class (mostly Jewish) and a downtrodden petty bourgeoisie (workers) as described here Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party would never have gained the power they got from otherwise good, God-fearing Germans. How much of a reach is it to compare what happened then with our current situation of an increasingly frustrated and angry middle class overlaid with Tea Party types, rich who are getting richer and a Donald Trump who will say anything (today he’s honored???) to get the crowd’s attention and possible approval?

End of Month Problems

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bio, Heavy Lifting, United States

I have some end-of-the-month problems, namely which direction and when do I turn the knob on my watch to advance the date of the month without affecting anything else and do I continue with T-Mobile and if so which monthly plan should I pick.

Isn’t it wonderful most people don’t have such momentous decisions to make this time of year? Take Obama for example, poor man only has to decide whether to kiss Boner’s ass on his energy plan or McCain’s ass on arming the rebels in Libya.

Whoops! Further research indicates there are 31 days in March, so I don’t have to advance the date of the month on my watch until April; however T-Mobile’s prepaid plans are only good for 30 days so I continue to have a problem there.

Riding a Light Beam

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bio, Wisdom I Have Learned

I’ve always been guided by Einstein’s response to how he came up with the theory of relativity: he said he “rode a light beam,” meaning he imagined taking a trip on one and all the aspects of such a trip. When I am considering any new important thing I try to run a movie of all the different aspects of it in my mind. For example, if I’m selling a property I imagine a single realtor brings in a family of four to view the house, two adults and two teenagers. The realtor begins a room by room tour, but soon the teens have gone off on their own. As they enter my bedroom and bathroom — or any other room — what might they do that I wouldn’t want done?