Meanwhile...

...while Denny and Carolynn have been gone... Lady, their fun old dog, has been having a blast up at Randy and Paula's house. [We have pictures to prove it!]

The days at Randy and Paula's were relaxing, and involved quite a bit of sleeping.



There were kisses from Mr. Floppy.

There were those daily walks to the mailbox that she just had to come too on...









Then, there was the unsuspecting tug of war rope that Mr. Floppy ever so daintly brought to Lady's attention... Lady devoured it.






Out of all that fun though, we speculate that Lady's highlight was the trip to South Mountain to go hiking. Granted, it's a toss up as to whether she liked the car ride, or the hike more. :-)

Our Last Days in Europe

Our time is coming to an end.
We really enjoyed our time in marseille , France. We went to a quaint village, on the way were rolling hillsides and green vineyards. Every where you go they give you wine with lunch, they say it is cheaper than water. We had some free time in aix en province. we ordered our own lunch , which was quite an experience. I almost ended up with onions on lettuce for a salad of the day.
We left the ship this morning and are wandering around Barcelona, Spain. the architecture is so different here, very ornate buildings kind of like you would see at Disneyland with glazed tile roofs and almost a cartoon style, yet very stately. We hope to include many pictures later, but where we find internet it isn't always possible.
We will fill in more blanks when we are back in the U.S.
I think what has impressed me the most is how many ancient civilizations had things that are so familiar to us, lots of marble and building materials we treasure today. Also how different our culture is from many of these countries

More when we get back , we are due home Aug 11
-Bye Carolyn and Denny

Naples and a Rescue

on our way to naples the ship made a water rescue, someone from Rome had taken their sailboat or small yacht out too far , there where high winds, rough seas and they put out a distress call. our ship rescued 5 people including 2 children. it caused us to be 2 hours late to our port , but we were so glad to be available to that family. i cant even imagine being in that position. next we went to positano where under the tuscan sun was made, it was the most beautiful countryside yet. amalfi coast has the whole town on a hillside. then on to pompeii, we cant wait to show you pictures of this 2000 yr old ruin that has been restored. ok i need to go now, no caps or punctuation since the key board is so different--love to you all
Denny and Carolynn

On our way to Naples...

Our next stop was Istanbul, Turkey. It was an exotic port, with Sultan Palaces, Harem quarters, and the oldest biggest Church around. The Hagia Sofia is 1,500 years old. It used to be a Christian Church , but is now a Mosque/Museum. We have some of the pictures from that area we will post later as internet time here is slow and costly. We also visited the Grand Bazaar, they had lots of Turkish Rugs, spices and Turkish Delight!!!

Our next Port Myconos Greece, stopping in the Greek Isles was canceled due to high winds. The captian did not feel it was safe to enter the port. We were outside and when he began to turn the ship. The wind was so very strong!! It even blew a deck chair up in the air about to go over the 4 foot retaining wall. The pool water was sloshing all around, pretty exciting. Yet we were glad it wasn't any worse.

We are going to Naples next, and have enjoyed two nice relaxing days at Sea. Gaining weight with the excellent meals, and just really enjoying our time.

Pictures

Gondola Ride in Venice.
The Coloseum.

Arch of Constantine

Venice and on our way to Turkey

The Train ride from Rome to Venice was beautiful, thru countryside and the Tuscany Area. Then Our time in Venice once we trotted across 3 bridges with our suitcases (yuck) , was wonderful. A beautiful city, we took a gondola ride thru narrow canals, then took a public water boat down the Grand Canal to the Rialto Bridge. Our time was short, but very sweet. The sailing out provided a grand view of the city with Andre Bocelli singing in the back ground.

Next we Came to Athens, the highlight was the Acropolis Area which is the home of several old structures from the early 400BC era. Today we saw Ephesus, which is now in Turkey. It was amazing. Large structures that have been unearthed dating back to the 1st Century. We saw the stadium where Paul Preached and St. John's Tomb, it was very interesting. Yet hot, hot, hot. 95- 104 degrees, but very humid. We are enroute to Istanbul.