There have been some things going on around here.  I’ve had a few more lessons, which I totally love, and it rekindles in me the need to keep at it.  My history has been to ride for a while, and then not for several years, then take it up again with some gusto, to be stopped short by one reason or another, and then start up several years later, etc. etc.  This has gone on for almost fifty years.  My enthusiasm is much stronger now, and I guess that’s owing to the fact that my brain is much more engaged.  Funny how that happens – the older you get the better you think, until a certain point, and then you start going downhill.  I will fight that – as with the rest of the aging process.

So, enough of that.  Sad goings on in our neighborhood.  There is an annual ‘canoe’ race here and they had it yesterday.  The ‘canoes’ here are what we would call kayaks. The race went from the ‘club house’ up river to a certain point and then I guess they turned around and came back, with the farthest distance reserved for the more expert paddlers?  Not sure.  Anyway, yesterday as we were about to go out for an excursion on our bikes I noticed a helicopter nearby, making a terrible racket and hovering and dipping in the neighborhood.  At first I thought it was an emergency practice session as they do that from time to time near here and across the river. Because it didn’t seem to move or stop, and after we got on our bikes and noticed as we went up the river path, there were a lot of police people looking along the bank,  something was terribly wrong.  Sure enough, a ‘canoe’ had turned up capsized with no paddler in sight.  Turns out the person in the boat was a young man, with health issues, racing alone and without a life jacket.  They searched for the rest of the day yesterday, and when I went up river today, they had divers out in the water.  I’m not sure if they found this young man, but at about 18.45 when I was going to the market, all police were away from the area.  This is the first problem this club has had to suffer in over forty years, which I think says a lot, as this river is swift with the tide change, and certainly no match for someone without a life jacket.

Tomorrow we go South for a little over a week and a half.  Should be interesting – this is the height of Summer vacation and we are going to ground zero of vacation land.  With that said – also combined at the destination is a very large, international, surf competition, as well as a very big sailing regatta.  This is one of the places we initially had set in stone as far as rooms and people, and then ‘they’ lost the location, only to get it back a few days later, and most likely many dollars shorter.  Not sure if they dropped rooms needed or not – but it has been a horrible scramble to get back the number of rooms needed for everyone.  It’s not easy to change plans with a circus this big.  Rumor has it that it takes between six and seven hours to drive there!  Sheesh.  Oh well – another adventure!

I think I had more to add, but remembering how long we’ll be in the car tomorrow, I’m going to sleep now – who knows, I may need to take over at the wheel, and for that I need all my wits and then some, about me.

Sweet dreams, xoxoxo, dwm

I’m back in my little perch, overlooking the neighborhood and I’ve seen some familiar faces and seen that some favorite neighbors are no longer here.  In particular a young family has been replaced by a bit older family.  Instead of a little girl and boy and toddler sister running to get to the car, I’m now watching a dad and two teenage daughters load the car for what looks like a family vacation, including the dog.  We’ve already taken the dog bed out of the back and rearranged the suitcases as more keep coming out of the house.  The girls look like they’d much rather be in bed, and don’t seem to be helping their poor dad come up with solutions in packing the car.  When it looks like not one more thing can go into the car the daughters come out with a bulging hand carry bag, a long box that looks like it could hold a glider kit, and a musical instrument – either a cello or guitar in a carry case.  These things are crammed in, and the back (station wagon) is closed without the dog in the bed.  I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a mom, but now the car has been totally packed with the daughters and dad getting in and out of the car several times, going back inside the house, coming out, getting in, closing the doors, sitting there for ten minutes, getting out again, and repeating.  Everyone is in the car now – one daughter in the front seat and another in the back – no mom and no dog – hmmmmm – and there is ignition, they’ve turned around, and just driven off!  Huh!  Oh well – I liked the younger family better – much happier.  And for every time I was a sullen, unsmiling, foot stomping, sighing teenager, I apologize a million times.

I arrived back here with some intestinal bug that Larry had while at the last place – it crossed my mind that it was something he ate, and of course I went on to e-coli, but once I got it a week later, no way.  Feeling much better now,  after about a week, I’ve made progress.  I put a sign on the bulletin board in the main building, looking to rent or buy a bike, but got no takers.  Then I started looking on craigslist, and after about three days found a listing that looked not only affordable, but capable of getting me around from here to there.  I’m now the proud owner of a proper bicycle, a three speed Raleigh women’s bike, and purple no less!  So now Jeni has replaced Jimi!  Poor Jeni has seen better days – I suspect she’s been in a couple of fender benders, literally, with a bent handle bar, a bent fender and a smashed basket, but she rolls – so I’m thrilled and able to have some exercise and give my feet a rest.

I’ve also reconnected with Minette, and have signed up for a lesson tomorrow and another next week and at the moment that’s all I can sign up for.  The schedule here has us coming and going – so not like the last one!!

Last week was light work for Larry so we managed to see a couple of movies and a photography exhibit.  First movie was ‘Tree of Life’ and we both liked it.  It’s hard to describe, or simple, or hard….never mind.  It’s one, that at least for me, I kept thinking about over the next few days.  I can’t imagine being the producer – except to think that you’d just tell the director to call when he’s finished, to show you the final cut.  It helps I guess if the producer is also the main actor!  Also saw ‘Senna’ a good documentary about a Brazilian formula one race car driver.  Larry says he read that the director would like to do one about the Tour!  Cool!

Photo exhibit was good – a german photographer, Thomas Struth, making huge prints – really amazing, with everything in focus on photos of cities, jungles, people in a room, cathedrals – prints of up to about five feet by ten.  Not all quite as big, but large format, all.

I haven’t finished the last location, but just wanted to touch base and say hello.

More later – off for a ride, and then perhaps a couple of local exhibits.  Cheers – xoxo, dwm

So enough about there – plenty to fill you in from that side.  I have taken notes on things I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet from here and plan to do so, either between now and tomorrow night when we leave, or once we’re settled.  I have to admit – I’m not all that sorry to leave.  This is just not my favorite place on the water – just way too bright and harsh.  I can’t wait to see greenery and let my eyes have a break – what a difference it makes.  I will surely miss being able to swim in the delicious salt water every day, that is certain.  What a luxury – and as a driver said to me yesterday, that’s the thing about being here – you’re never too far from taking a swim anywhere.  Ten minutes max was his estimation.  I’m not sure about that – there are some places I just don’t fathom how you could get to the water – but give me a few more months and I’m sure I could find a way.

Sadly to my sailors – I have not made it to a sailboat.  I have tried every which way, but no one has been able to offer suggestions.  There are boats you can go out on, don’t get me wrong – plenty – if you want to spend several hundred euros.  I had a few wives lined up to go with their children, but boats fell through and then the desire to go and do anything withered away, especially after yesterday!  More about that later.  There are enough boats around here to go around, and you would think some enterprising person would set up a website and offer something for everyone – not just full days out with lunch, going to the crowded tourist sites.  I understand that most people are not like me – I hate tourists – and they only have so many hours here – but just one listing?!?!?  It could be a turf deal – there are a couple of really big companies that do all the water things, and maybe the little guys get bullied away – as I said before, we are close to you know where!!!!

Okay – time to get to the gym, breakfast, swim, into town, back, swim, eat, sleep, pack, swim, pack, swim, fly.  More on this, I promise – xoxoxo, dwm

Inside, a vast and very colorful cathedral with one main alter, and several smaller ones in ‘corners’.  Walls and ceiling were completely covered in various Christian depictions and the floor was a marble tapestry of elaborate tombs, measuring about five feet by about seven.  Each had writing in the middle – I couldn’t read it, and the edges varied in style – from very elaborate to plain and simple, using very pretty marble of various colors.  There were some recent additions, and very little room on the floor for any more.  I asked if the recent additions were also tombs, and a man said they were not, they were memorials and that there was no room to add more.  Chairs cover most of the floor space.

From there I wandered around the edge of town thinking I might get some lunch and remembered passing a place that looked like it would be good, with a good view.  When I got there I decided I wasn’t really hungry and continued wandering toward the exit, passing an interesting shop, finding that it was attached to a palazzo – the only home open for touring.  They offer self touring using an audio guide and it was really lovely.  From the outside these residences reveal nothing – just a door, and maybe a window.  Beyond the door here was a beautiful courtyard with fountain and bougainvillea in radiant bloom, climbing up the side of the building, and along a terrace on the second floor a trellised wisteria. The house is built around this courtyard with ample windows opening to it. The deceased owner willed the home to the city to be preserved with his collections of silver, rugs, paintings, furniture, books and jewelry – a small Winterthur or Barnes.  The house was basically set up the same as the other house – ground floor having a kitchen and a few rooms – a room displaying armor and a painting studio, as well as an informal room off the kitchen with arm chairs and a small table.  Upstairs had a study, a small room displaying his jewelry, watch, snuff box and medal collection, a very formal living room and dining room split by a sitting room.  There was a small library – small in circumference but double in height – which led to a chapel and then a bedroom.  A stairway led up to a lovely roof garden with café and toilets.  A lucky find and a nice place to have a snack and some water.

I took the bus home and happily fell into the sea after another exhausting day of combing the island!  Ha ha!

I have since returned two more times with different people sharing my earlier experience and discovering some new ones.  I did go on a horse and carriage ride with Kerry and her daughter – and it was a fun way to get around, and a great way to be connected to a horse, enjoying the clip clopping.  Our horse was Sheila and our driver Elton!  As opposed to the taxi I took on my first trip, we had a driver from the job take us up there and he took us to the neighboring ‘suburb’ where we also went into a cathedral and grotto.  The grotto in this case had nothing to do with water, but more in keeping with catacombs.  The inside of the church was smaller in size than the first, but made up for that in elaborateness!  This town was having its ‘festa’ and the streets were draped with beautiful velvet painted banners and wonderful decorations on the street lamps.  The decorations were temporary, but quite elaborate in their effort.   This visit was short – having a two year old who was very patient necessitated that we return to the hotel in time for lunch before the nap.

I went again a few days later with a woman visiting her working daughter, our primary destination a blue grotto under the cliffs, similar to another famous blue grotto.  Unfortunately for this trip, as with my trip to the other grotto, the sea was too rough to get a boat in for a visit.  I hope to try one more time before departing.  We were able to drive to an overlook and could see where the cavern opening was and there were patches of amazing blue water, which was a small benefit.  From there we went to the walled city, arriving before anything was open, so we thought we’d have coffee and wait.  Nothing was open for that either, but I knew where a fancy hotel was and sure enough – we could have coffee there.  It is a really nice hotel with gorgeous views – the only drawback is they have no pool – I doubt that when the town was built they were thinking where to put pools, and I’m sure some of the big cheeses on this job would have stayed there had there been a way to cool off.  We were graciously led upstairs to a pretty dining room on the roof, unable to sit outside on the terrace as they were still serving the hotel guest’s breakfast, so we sat at a table closest to the terrace and enjoyed our coffee while getting to know each other.

From there I took her to the palazzo for the audio tour, which we zipped through and then we were on our way to a nearby town to see their cathedral – one of the biggest unsupported domes in the world – similar to Sofia in Turkey.  They were preparing for a wedding, and I was sorry not to be a guest – I would have loved to see it in this pretty place.  I wandered into a back room, which turned out to be a gift shop as well as housing the replica of the bomb that dropped through the dome during the war, on a Sunday with about three hundred people inside.  The bomb did not explode, with no one hurt, and miracle is the word you hear the most around this place!

I was dropped off near my hotel and ran some errands – like going to the fruit truck and getting tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and nectarines.  I’ve been making a salad for our dinner, and the nectarines are a really delicious dessert!  Another dip in the delicious salt water and another day, or a few days, accounted for.

More to come – xoxo, dwm

The weather didn’t really change here over the last couple of days, although the day before Larry had off, I could see some big puffy clouds to the East, the day before, in the afternoon.  With that, HUGE swells started rolling in from the West, with waves crashing a little ways out in the water and roaring onto the front of the terrace, where the chaise’s are placed with the umbrellas.  The furniture was quickly taken away and the red flag, for dangerous conditions, went up.  I had just arrived, to take my daily swim in the salt water ‘pool’ – a large enclosed, cement walled, body of water with a small opening on the outside end for the water to come in and out.  I arrived at the regular swimming pool side of the swimming area, and watched the waves with fascination, and decided if I wanted to get in the salt water, perhaps I should go back to the ‘front,’ more secluded side of the hotel.  The red flag was now up over there as well, but there was a man going in, down the ladder, and I thought – okay, I can do that.  I thought it would be like swimming on a ship – with the waves taking you up, and then swooping you back down, again and again.  Not so much.  I was able to get down the ladder and into the water without bashing against some rocks – and floated out, or rather was swept out, still within the swimming area, free of the rocky edge.  I had my goggles and ear plugs and tried unsuccessfully to put them on, while trying to tread water – not going to happen.  So I thought okay – I’ll just swim without them.  Uh, wrong!   Swimming just wasn’t going to happen either – I’d start my arms and legs only to find my arms flailing in mid air and soon crashing back onto the water.  I floated around a bit, but was worried about getting too close to the rocks and didn’t like being too close to the enclosure rope line and decided to get out. That too was a challenge! It was a matter of perfect timing, but I did manage to ebb and flow with the waves enough and grasped the ladder during an ebb or flow and pulled myself out.  I didn’t talk to the man, but I’m pretty certain he had the same thoughts going through his head as I did while he had his short dip in the sea.  I went back to the other pool and watched as the waves crashed against the cement edge below.  There were several people standing on the edge to have their picture taken – obviously they have never heard of the ‘sneaker’ waves that come in suddenly, bigger than normal, sweeping people out to sea.

The next day was slightly calmer, but the red flag was still up.  We decided to venture to the salt water pool to see if it was okay to swim in, and it looked fine.  We paddled around it, keeping clear of the opening which had huge waves rolling in, and saw plenty of fish and a few urchins – I had no idea they were there, not having had my mask on before!  Be careful where you put your feet, eh?

I had an interesting day the next day – I went to the ‘silent’ walled city that had once been the capital on the island.  They call it the ‘silent’ city because the streets are so narrow, cars cannot drive inside – but that’s not totally true – there were cars parked here and there, although they were small cars.  My taxi driver Alphonse was telling me about it – and I said – like Venice except no boats, yes?  He thought that was hysterical – ?!?!?!  On the way he said he wanted to drive me by the new US embassy.  I immediately thought of the embassy in Rome for some reason, which takes up a huge block in one of the nicer areas of town, totally barricaded on all sides, blocking off the sidewalks – the sidewalks that hold the shade during the hottest time of the day, and not allowing anyone to walk there.  Total arrogance springs to mind.  So when he asked had I seen this one yet, I said no, but had he seen the one in Rome?  He hadn’t, so I tried to explain it to him.  He said – oh, this one is not like that, but didn’t explain more.  I said, I’m sure it’s big – yes, he said, we think they’re storing missiles underneath!  Hysterical laughter again.  Sure enough, one of the ugliest buildings, plopped on what had obviously been farmers fields with a great big wall around it.  Granted, it looks like it still might be under some construction, and the road in front is still being landscaped, but why?  Why do they/we need a place of such size here???  I would say a plum spot for some lucky ambassador or ambassadoress – i.e. political contributor.  A nice villa in town could have sufficed but as usual, nobody asked me!!

Upon arriving at the ‘silent’ city, I started to wander, choosing to go the opposite way of the crowds following their person who holds up the baton or umbrella and speaks with a microphone.  Sometimes it pays to follow those groups, as you can learn some juicy tidbits if you speak the same language.  Not this time – I think the speaker was German.  Although the city is a major tourist destination, evidenced by the shops – there wasn’t one shop other than tourist shops with the usual trinkets and towels – the city is actually residential with a few hundred people living within the walls.  The streets are very narrow as mentioned, but wide enough to accommodate a horse drawn carriage, which is a good way to get around the ten acre city.  During my wander I saw a sign that said ‘Auction Today’ and my heart leapt!  Oh boy, oh joy!  I followed the arrow to a narrow doorway, and was encouraged to enter and wander around.  They were on their third day of a three day auction and it was fun to be in someone’s home, seeing their history.  They left me alone and I wandered from one room to another.  I saw beautiful antique furniture – similar to pieces I have seen at the Fine Arts Museum here – pretty dressers, tables and display cases, made with olive wood.  There were a lot of ceramic religious decorative pieces – and a fair amount of dishware, as well as some very nice paintings – Italian baroque style.

The home had a small entry area that opened to a dining area that led to a kitchen.  The kitchen was fair sized, with all the cabinets and sinks to one side and corner.  There was a small utility area off of that, and an outdoor, really small, uninteresting courtyard.  There was another room off the kitchen in the back, but I couldn’t get into it, as their desk was set up in the entry hall blocking the way with a couple of people discussing I’m not sure what.  The staircase rose from this entry area, and was quite charming – it was open from first floor to ceiling of second floor and even though it had a railing, I still wanted to hug the wall.

Upstairs contained the formal living area – and this is where most of the elaborate furniture,  paintings and display cases were.  I think there was only one bedroom on this level with a bathroom and toilet room attached.  I saw stairs leading up, but the hall around the stairs was filled with bed frames and odds and ends.

I so wanted to go back at 4:00 for the auction, but you know me, I’d buy another dining room table and then where would I be!?!??!  In Malta with a big piece of furniture I didn’t need.  So I thanked them and wandered off, thinking about a couple of mirrors I’d just seen.

Hope this is enough for now.  Sorry I’ve been mute, but some days I don’t think I’ve really done anything all that interesting.  I’ll be more diligent in reporting.  And FYI – we couldn’t get Wimbledon in our room, but we could see it in the lobby/bar – which we did the other night, watching Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal – wow.  Hoping to catch the finals down there tonight.  We are able to get the Tour in our room, and will be catching that, although without the ability to record it, darn it all.

Have a good weekend/4^th of July – xoxoxo, dwm

I just got a call from Larry. I mentioned to him that I thought I might go to the ‘Craft Village’ this morning.  That paints a totally inappropriate picture, I think.  The ‘village’ consists of about thirty short quonset hut type buildings, in the middle of a dusty parking area, with a few bedraggled palm trees and the ever present oleander that grows everywhere – alternating shrubs of pink and white.  The Craft Village is the center of (at least the one that the tourists see) creativity for this place.  They are known for their glass work, but also do ceramics, lace, and a brain bendingly small silver filigree that is smaller than a spider web! I thought I’d hop on/off my way over there, but Larry went to work and asked the guy in charge of assigning drivers their jobs for the day, if he could ask a favor.  The instant reply was ‘anything if I can get a kilo of what you’re on!’  As mentioned before, ‘someone’ is turning into a myth before my very eyes!  People come up to him and say ‘it’s an honor to work with you!!!’  Not sure how much more of this I can take!!!  Ha, ha, only kidding – I love it when he gets recognition.

Got to the three glass makers, the first, Phoenician, being the nicest, or maybe it’s just that they didn’t have gobs and gobs of really ugly stuff on display.  They did have a collection of ugly things, but compared to the other two places, less was definitely more.  Had I not had a driver waiting for me, I probably would have worked my way through all the huts and found some secret gems, but with a guy waiting, and insisting that he drive me from one place to another, it took some of the adventure away.  No worries – I can do some more research and go back if necessary.  If anyone needs ceramic number signs or anything, let me know.  Or fused glass ashtrays.

Not sure if I’ve mentioned how young this place is!!!  It is crawling with skinny, long haired young women, and buffed and tan young men.  I can’t quite figure out where they’ve all come from except that there is a university nearby, and I’m thinking that we’re between classes at the moment, as well as neighboring countries with schools on breaks.  They are also going to have this gigantic/ginormous music event soon.  Some of the drivers think it starts this weekend, and some of the others think that it’s next week.  Either way, they’ve arrived and are literally crawling the streets around here.  Some of the people with us are staying at the ‘other’ hotel.  After dinner last week we walked back with them and then on to our oasis on the water.  The streets were literally throbbing with the competing music coming out of the bars, neon bouncing off more neon, and people, throngs of barely dressed, really drunk, people.  And this goes on every single night!  I told the woman we were with that I would help her move to another hotel, anything, to get her away from that.  She has to have her window closed all the time, but can still hear or feel the throbbing.  Awful – or am I just too old?!?!?  And not to mention what it’s like walking through the streets early the next morning – what has been left by the throngs is really awful.  Not the area to stay when coming here…..unless you’re in your early twenties, and even then……..ugh.

Hoping to have a nice sightseeing day tomorrow with Larry.  They have a day off, but again, we’ll see how exhausted he is.  It just might end up being an excursion over to the seaside chaise with our books – and speaking of books ……

I finished Steve Martin’s ‘Object of Beauty’ (I think that’s the title) the day before we left, which was good (that I finished it) because it was a book book, as opposed to the Kindles that we are using. Have you noticed they now have a bestselling list for e-books?  I still buy the real thing when I can, but for travel – the e-book thing is really great.

So, Larry is reading ‘Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain’ by David Eagleman.  He loves it, and tells me snippets as he’s reading.  I heard Mr. Eagleman interviewed on the radio and called Larry to tell him he must get this book, I knew he would love it.  After Steve Martin’s book – I liked it okay, about the art/auction world, which he seems to know quite a bit about it – but maybe not something I would say to rush out and get.  I then read a thriller that my nephew recommended – ‘Kill Me’ by Stephen White – never heard of him.  Interesting concept, kept me wondering what would happen right to the end.  Next I read ‘State of Wonder’ by Ann Patchett.  It is very good, and transports you right onto the pages with the characters. It was one of those books that you hate to read fast because you’ll finish it sooner.  I love her work, and have always been so hoping that someone would make a great movie out of ‘Belle Canto’, but because Angelina, or Nicole, or Julia, or Penelope, or Reese can’t sing opera, I’m thinking it won’t get made.  Shame.  I just started ‘One Hundred Words for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage and the Language of Healing’ by Diane Ackerman.  I had also heard interviews with her about this book and was interested, but also by the fact that Diane and her husband Paul are friends of Larry’s family.  She is a wonderful writer, and I find it fascinating to read about the brain on a similar path that Larry’s book is taking, although this is only one facet of brain activity, or rather inactivity, whereas his book is much broader.  Not sure what to do next – looked online at the 2011 Summer Reading list on NPR, but I have quite a few already, so I best read them first before purchasing any more.  If you have any recommendations, please send!

Okay – time for breakfast – xoxoxo, dwm (I actually did go to the gym between paragraphs and slept the night and did a few other things before getting this finished – so not to worry!!)

When we arrived and saw Larry’s boss, the first thing he said was – ‘you’re going to be in really good shape by the time this is over’….aka – if you survive!!  We’ve just had the first official two days of work and then a day off, or as I would call it, a day of rest.  Larry did most of the work for those two days, and the first part of it, he later told his boss, on a technical scale of one through ten, it was a twelve point five!  He hasn’t had something like that to do for years.  I remember the job he was on when we started going out, they had something similar, and they built him a barber pole to ride on – not easy to visualize.  Here, there is no way to do that, so he went up stairs, to a landing around to the next stairs up, landing, stairs up, landing, etc. all with Gerry and another person following and talking.  Doesn’t sound that tricky, but when you factor in head height, keeping it in the picture, and doing this backwards, it is pretty tricky.  We now have a good arsenal of arnica cream, ibuprofen, Gatorade, and a pair of strong hands that can massage sore muscles! His boss said to the Guy In Charge that Larry was sixty one, and the Guy In Charge said – ‘oh gosh, Larry, had I known how old you are I wouldn’t have chosen the stairs!’ – Larry retorted ‘I like that line of thinking!’  Now everyone makes comments like – ‘have enough water Larry?’, ‘better get in the shade’, ‘you okay????’  Never before has anyone said anything like that!!!!  If they say anything to me, I’ll be sure to tell them ‘sixty is the new forty! Get over it.’

And by the way – Larry loves working with Gerry!  Says he’s really, really smart, and thinks about where he is, what Gerry should be doing in relation to Larry, etc.  And also,  very, very calm and nice.  So, that’s a nice plus.

We decided we like this schedule – two days on, one day off…..now we’ve heard there will be four days on, then one day off.  Originally it was supposed to be three six day weeks, and at this rate, who knows how long we’ll be here!!!

Speaking of here – I think I mentioned that the weather seems to be about the same – daily…..sunny across the board for the ten day forecast.  Could be twenty day, thirty day forecast?!?!?  We got the low down this morning – hot summers, then pretty unbearable after summer until November, then good maybe as far as Christmas, then it gets really chilly – the limestone on the beaches and the buildings keeps everything really cold, and I haven’t found out when it’s good to come again in the Spring – I think I mentioned that it was a bit cool when we arrived at the beginning of June.

If you like to be in the sun, this is the place for you – most of the ‘beaches’ (I’ve heard there are some sand beaches to the north) have places where you can lie on a chaise under an umbrella, for a price.  The pools are unheated, and so far the Med. has been bracing, but once you’re in and kicking around, it is enjoyable, and the hotter it gets the better it is.  I have seen all kinds of skin here…but mostly a lot of really painful looking, sunburned skin – just awful looking heat-rashed skin.  The idea of sunbathing just hurts – so I usually stay inside, or walk in the shade, during the heat of the day, and also slather myself with sunscreen.  So here I am again, not covered in bug spray, but enough sunscreen to sink a ship.

Also- if you like boats, or perhaps I should say yachts – because there are some REALLY big ones here, again this is the place for you.  The sailboats are long and gorgeous for the most part.  There are some that look like bath tubs, but I bet that doesn’t matter when you’re out on them. I’m hoping to arrange a sail before I leave. A lot of the sailboats have two masts, but I haven’t really seen any of them with full sails up.  There has been plenty of wind, but perhaps I’m not in the sailing area.  It does get a lot busier on the water during the weekends – which brings me to another subject.  The power/motor boats here come in all shapes and sizes, from dingys with a sun roof type attachment to REALLY big cruisers.  When you drive by the marinas, they put the boats that are for sale along the road side, and there are quite a few of the power/motor boats in that category.  A couple of weekends ago they had the cigarette boat races – and guess where they were racing – right around here.  They had helicopters following them and either the starting line or finish line was right out front, we couldn’t really tell.  They were SO LOUD – so loud that you could barely hear the helicopters!!!  They would come roaring around the corner, race right to left, disappear and then come roaring back from left to right and disappear again.  They did it two days in a row, and each ‘heat’ would have about ten laps.  Red boat did really well the first day, but had to drop out half way through the second day, lagging from the start.  That’s all we knew about it.  We tried to see if it was televised, but couldn’t find it.

Ending on this note – time to take a dip – xoxox, dwm

Perhaps this is my routine on the days when Larry is working – investigate places in the mornings after the gym, and then play with them in the afternoon – I like it.

The other day I took the clothes to a laundry that I’d found a few blocks away.  We get ten percent off the laundry here at the hotel – but ten percent off 2.95 euros to wash one piece of underwear/boxer/whathaveyou adds up after a while.  This place charged by the kilo, 8 euros/kilo, and I thought okay – that has to be cheaper, there wasn’t really much – but I did have nine of the aforementioned – hmmmm – that would be 23.89 euros with the discount for nine unmentionables at the hotel.  Turns out I had about three kilos of laundry – for a grand total of 24+ euros.  Today 1.000 euro is is equal to 1.436 us dollars.  That’s about 35 euros for a handful of laundry.  Yikes!  You know what they say – it always costs more on an island.  Not to bore you too much with laundry items – just one more thing.  I went to the ‘office’ and asked if they had any secret place for laundry, and a woman gave me directions to a place, saying they charged her 5.00/kilo. I followed her directions perfectly – and voila – I ended up at my place for 8.00/kilo!  I brought in a new load afterwards, determined to say in a strong but kind voice that my friend was being charged 3.00/kilo less and that’s what I wanted, but there was someone in front of me, and she was busy counting out the number of t-shirts he had, underwear, socks, so that when she got to me, I gave her my numbers of  each item, and she wrote it all down and gave me my slip for pickup and it was half what I paid last time.  So forget weighing, just count!

Everyone had the day off yesterday.  We slept in and then decided to do the hop on/hop off bus tour, getting on the last bus out – meaning that we wouldn’t be able to hop off anywhere, because there wouldn’t be another bus to hop on.  No matter – we liked just sitting up on top, having the breeze and zipping around getting an idea of what was on the island, where.  And have I mentioned how HUGE this little island is??!?!?!  I’ll find an accurate comparison.  It does remind me a bit of San Francisco, in that it is very hilly, in the populated areas.  As it turns out I would estimate, based on looking at one map, that the densely populated areas comprise about a third of the main island, with the other two thirds being a patchwork quilt of farm land – growing just about anything.  Yesterday I saw from strawberries to artichokes, to pumpkins, onions, apricots and peaches.  I’m pretty certain – based on actual fact and observance, it’s safe to eat any of the fresh things here without worry – and very delicious too.  I realized that we will be very spoiled by the time we leave here – the tomatoes are delicious, and I don’t remember them being that good in London.  They grow so many that they export a lot, so if we’re lucky, our market in London will carry M tomatoes!!!

I have never been in a place where you can hear more languages within a ten foot radius.  French, Italian, Scandinavian, Russian?  Not sure what I’m hearing.  The main languages spoken on the island by the people who live here are English, Italian and their own M… language, which is semitic in origin with a latin script, taking many words from English and Italian.

The country became part of the European Union in 2008, and is very prosperous based on all the redevelopment.  The new buildings are going up mostly along the coastal areas – spreading from the bigger cities, and according to one of the local drivers Larry was talking to, he hates coming into the city – it’s just too congested.  They have terrible traffic jams in the afternoon, when work finishes, and if you can plan accordingly, it’s a good thing to avoid.  Getting around on foot is a good alternative, as long as you keep a map, have comfortable shoes and can find the shade.

Although the capital city still retains a lot of old buildings, and has a big and impressive redevelopment project going on, from the vision of Renzo Piano, much of the rest of the island has newer housing, and perhaps some of this is due to the fact that during WWII the island had extensive bombing taking place.  At that time it was part of Britain and both Germany and Italy were fixated on it.  I will get back to you after I visit the proper museum, dedicated to that.

Actually – there are so many places to visit as this island has had quite a history of rulers – the Knights, of course, the French for a brief time, Arabs, Italians.

More on all this later, time to go afield and see some more – ciao, xoxoox, dwm

I’ve been to Greece but not Morocco, but from pictures, the city part here reminds me of Morocco and/or Greece.  This is supposed to be one of the most densely populated places on earth – and I can believe it.  It is a very small island, but very packed with buildings along the coast lines.  There are buildings on top of buildings and garages and roadways running on top and underneath each other.  The hotels, like this one – a good one, are spread out, but depending where they are in town – they can have more than ten floors and only look like four from one side because they are built into a mountain.  There are very few trees, and I just read in literature on the hotel about things to do – one is plant a tree!  More on this soon.

Larry went off early to go on a scout – gone most of the day, and when he returned he was totally dumbfounded by the amount of work needed for so few days.  Not enough people, not enough equipment, too ambitious by about ten.  Oh well, we’ll see once they get going.

Meanwhile, getting into the routine here – discovered a little beach next to the ‘other’ pool and got myself situated in a chaise in the shade and decided to take a dip.  Oh my – the water was c-o-l-d!  Even in the shallow part.  Not one to abandon my mission while all sorts of people were watching I took the plunge – oh oh oh oh oh.  Once I got moving it got a little better so then I decided I would really show off and swam like Esther out to the open water.  Wrong!  Way colder out there – acted as if my original intention was to swim a little ways out, and turn around and high tail it back to the tiny inlet with shallow water.  What a wuss!  Naturally, when I got out, my nicely shaded spot just didn’t work at all, so I wrapped myself in a towel and found another spot, nicely sunny and read for a while.  These things take time to figure out!  Somebody’s got to do it.

Meanwhile as I write this I can see boats going from right to left and the other way, of course, and I am almost seasick watching some of them not just bobbing up and down – they’re pounding and rolling.  Makes me think any ferry trip will have to be early or late in the day – urp.

Larry came back and we had dinner on the veranda off the bar, and it was good, and a bit breezy.  As we were leaving we ran into his boss and wife, and talked to them for a while – got the distinct impression that things were not going as planned, and we’ll keep fingers crossed that once they start working it will all get ironed out, or perhaps we’ve just had a brief but interesting adventure.

More tomorrow – and then the next and the next and you get the point – xoxoxo, dwm

We started our day by going down for breakfast – it comes with the lodging.  Very nice spread, and depending on what you eat – from a crust of bread – they have at least ten to choose from, to an omelet that you design, there are many more things in between – fruits galore, cereals, meats, cheese, yogurts.  Nice, and most importantly – especially today,  they serve really nice, dark, strong coffee.

We then went to the gym and had a nice hour long aerobic workout – Larry using the bike and I the elliptical and tread mill.  Soon, I hope to get in the pool and start some laps.

After the gym we heard from our friend, the new wife of Larry’s boss.  She is here and he will be arriving tonight around midnight.  We arranged to have lunch with her and heard all the stories of their wedding, which sounded really nice, relaxed, fun, and sweet all at the same time.  She is a horse fanatic, and we started planning where we might be able to ride here – although she loves to go really fast, and I think I’ve outgrown that.  Their wedding was at home and she rode her neighbor’s horse, in her wedding dress, to the wedding site, really surprising him!!!

After lunch Larry and I walked to the office and got a couple of things straightened out, while also running into friends from previous jobs, and it was fun and seemed like we just saw them last week.  When we left, we were headed for a supermarket, and I knew there was one a bus ride away, so we got directions on where to catch a bus – the buses are the number one mode of transportation around here – reliable, cheap and frequent.  When I asked the driver which stop to get off, he said he didn’t know, so Larry and I had to study our map a little more carefully and decipher which side of the road the red dot was on, and determined where to get off, although the driver didn’t stop.  We found out later that you have to either push a button or pull a string – duh?!?!  We stood up, indicating we wanted the next stop, and that worked.  No matter that we went farther – you’re walking along the water, and the sun had dipped below most of the buildings, giving a nice shade, so it was a really pleasant thing.  We passed this one pool situated over the water – not in the water – over it, and there was a water polo competition about to start with both teams warming up on either end.  We wondered later why it’s called water polo – there are no horses or mallets, and it looks more like soccer, so why not water soccer?  Not sure whether this is a drop-in polo site, but it’s listed on all the maps – ‘Water Polo’.

We got to our market and it was one of those places that looks like a rat hole from the outside, but when you get inside, it is cavernous and filled with all sorts of things in a well organized and clean manner.  It is part of Carrefour, a French market chain that we learned to love in China.

We gathered our bags and looked for the nearest bus stop. The streets around here are mostly one way – so the way you came might not exactly be the way you go back.  We found that out after asking one bus after another if they went to Paceville?  No, they did not – you want Bus no. 62.  We waited and we waited and we waited and no bus no. 62 showed up, so we took the big leap and decided to walk.  Hah!  Here’s a case where things look really far away on the map – not so much in person!  We passed a laundry – good thing, and we passed another clean, gorgeous looking supermarket about halfway between the one we went to and our hotel.  Now we know- we’ll try it and if it’s not that great, we know how to get to the other one.

We got back to the hotel and muttered and puttered for a while and then decided it was time for dinner.  We went back to the great place where we’d had lunch, especially because we’d heard how delicious – underlined ten times – the pizza’s were.  No lie – right back in Naples, so, so, so, so, so, so good!!!!!  While we ate our pizza we watched a mini drama unfold – there was a table with about twenty guys – all about twentyish.  I saw one guy hand another an envelope, hug, and decided maybe this was a pre-wedding dinner.  I noticed these four sleezy looking guys sidle in, and they came to the head of the table and one of them put his hands in front of him and made kind of a gun/pulling the trigger, bang bang gesture, then turned away and walked to another table, putting his hands in his pockets.  A waiter was watching this too and was trying to intercept the guy, and I was sure he was going to pull a pistol (too many movies) out of his pants and I think the waiter thought so too, but the guy put his hands in the air and opened them as if to say – ‘see, nothing there.’  The four guys sat down between our table and the big table and kept staring at the guy at the other table…..drama, right?!?!?  We are close to Sicily, could be from different ‘families’?!?  Just sayin.

We went back to the hotel, crawled into bed and again, passed out sound asleep.  Not sure we learned much more about where we are on the second day – but at least we ate well.

Sweet dreams – xooxox, dwm