travelingfeet

After sailing into New York, we spent time visiting family on both coasts; John’s folks live in the suburbs of Boston and mine live in the suburbs of Seattle. The highlight in Boston was visiting our nephew’s 6th grade class. They had been following our blog all year and so we visited in person to answer their questions. They had very good questions ranging from the violence in Egypt to the yuckiest food we ate on the trip. (Just in case you are wondering, the yuckiest food was blood jello.) The highlight in Seattle was showing our slides to my extended family; again the kids asked very good questions. Since we had left a car in Seattle, we had to drive from Seattle to Colorado Springs; a distance of 1400 miles on the most direct route ... read more

In Dublin's Fair City Where the girls are so pretty I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone These are the opening words to a classic song about a young fish seller which kept replaying itself in my head as we wandered the streets of Dublin. John and I arrived after an overnight flight from Greece. We spent a week leisurely sightseeing the city before setting off with Vicky and Gary (friends from Colorado) to see the rest of Ireland. We then spent one more day in Dublin before leaving the country. This blog covers both visits. My lasting impression of Dublin is that it is very multicultural. Most of the speaking accents are eastern European and an individual on the street is just as likely to have the black straight hair of an Asian ... read more

“Top of the mornin’ to you” our hostess said as she breezed through the breakfast room and I knew without a doubt we were in Ireland. Actually we had heard no one really says “Top of the mornin’” anymore so we were grinning at each other to actually hear it said in a real Irish brogue. John and I arrived in Ireland on May 7 and spent the next week exploring the sights of Dublin and generally taking it easy (I will write about Dublin in a later blog). After the week, our friends Vicky and Gary arrived and the four of us set out to explore the country. We left Dublin immediately because Queen Elizabeth II was due to visit and they were closing streets and sights in preparation. We headed south out of Dublin ... read more

Island Hopping is a romantic way to travel from island to island in Greece - exploring to see what there is to see. It is best done in the summer (June through September) because one of the key things to do on most islands is to explore the beaches and swim. In April it was too cold for swimming…the water was about 60 degrees F (15 degrees C) but I had a nice week anyway exploring sunlit spaces. I actually visited three islands after leaving Hydra: Syros, Paros and Thira (aka Santorini). The prettiest (and correspondingly the most popular) was Thira but the other two had their attractions as well. Syros One fun thing about Island Hopping is waiting until the last minute to decide where to go. This might not work in high season because ... read more

Celebrating Easter in Greece is like celebrating Christmas in the US. The festivities last days and many people return to their home town to celebrate. In fact, the Easter observances last four days, Thursday through Sunday. The days are full of ritual, ceremony and celebration. Since the primary church is the Orthodox Church there was nothing in these rituals that I had experienced previously so it was a fascinating adventure. I spent the four days of Easter on Hydra (pronounced ee-dra) one of the Greek islands in the Saronic Gulf just a few miles off the Peloponnese coast. Although I experienced the holy days in only this town, from talking with others, the traditions are similar all over Greece. Thursday: The Crucifixion I arrived on Hydra via a ferry on Thursday morning. There are three churches ... read more