EXHAUST PIPES

Wow. Long time since last post but trip was ok minus the flight, lost luggage, etc. there (16 hours in airports, 16 hours on plane), come home to a mess with strangers in my house, ID theft (thank you life lock, bank, police, etc!), ATT outages, power outages, no water pressure and water company with line breaks making it sound like Linda Blair living in my pipes, etc. I'm exhausted and all that sucked up too much time to be able to come in here and blog about my vacation :( It has taken every bit of 2 months to straighten out bank accounts, clean up mess in house, groom the dogs (3 times now :/), deal with the water and wondering why it's $80 a month from the usual $15-25 and ripping up my gardens to check with the meter not registering for leaks anyway, time on phone with Directv who does not know why I am not bundles with ATT...the 2cd time I get their services and they STILL CAN'T and say it's not bundled but did when I ordered their service, house, etc....I just screamed at God one day stating that I WAS NOT JOB and AT MY LIMIT! Of course a minor breakdown with apologizing and regret for losing it ensued right after :l

I do know I'll never allow Carnival to handle my flights or listen to them again but the ship was really beautiful and our room was a double concierge type. You had to to through 2 private doors to get to our cabin door on the corner balcony with vista views (lol "Vista" was perfect name for ship and they have "Vista 2" already hit the water when we were aboard 1's maiden voyage!!). I can't wait to show photos and go into detail of all the places, history, photos, people, food, etc. we experienced but in a nutshell....Greece felt like home and calmed us although with the jet lag, missing luggage, breeders left 3 hours waiting past arrival, Athens on strike that day, neck stiff and feet swollen like ballons from being up 2 days had me sport a look of mental anguish on my face the first 2 days :/ Meteora was awesome, Parthenon by night and day fabulous, shopping was good, HD shop was the bomb, but the best was a killer dinner with Paros's Mum and Dad at a spectacular seafood place! And although I had an ouzo...I drank it wrong when I shot it down. When I rewatched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" when we got back...I learned where I got that from lol...plus I'm sure a couple other movies but the stuff was sooo bad....I prefer to slam it down lol! But I loved the fresh sea urchin, fried mullet (nothing like the species in the states), oysters....sooo much seafood they must have ordered everything off of their friends menu! Of course we didn't allow them to pick up the tab with their 3 hour wait at the airport while we lost our luggage, the loss of Paros's mom, and with Mother's day that just passed...it was the one thing Paros could do for them. He loves us and them so and is soooo sweet, smart, and loyal...he'd give us all the world if he could :)

Sounion Greece

We felt safe to walk the streets at night there too. I took some photos about 2 am in the morning and walked around a bit during the full blood moon. We missed out on Athens the first night because of the strike but caught the temple of Poseidon with its steely presence overlooking the sea in Sounion. The day was a bit ominous but I knew it would pass as it did and the remainder of our vacation was hot and sunny (minus the day in Livorno when we had tickets to may our way to Cinque Terre again). We absolutely fell in love with the history and tour of Turkey, along with the tour guide and her people who had the hand made Turkish rug shop. They pulled some out and I found one I loved, gave them the credit card and thought I had the souvenir of a life time until we noticed days later...nothing was taken out and upon arriving home, the issues in Istanbul was all over the news :( No planes in or out so I am assuming this is why. No rugs coming out :((( We do plan to fly over there and look more in depth if they should ever secure their borders. This country AMAZED me! The house of virgin Mary, Ephesus where apostle Paul taught and where St. John formed his crusaders "Knights Templar", how the religions both highly revere these holy spots...it requires a blog and more on its own! I didn't get my Turkish coffee or cigarette, I didn't get to pray or see a mosque and immerse myself in their culture as much as I would have liked, but what I did see was more than I ever expected. The people, stories, history, and country was astounding!

Azure Window

But for now, with windows 10 offer GONE I am in hopes to update my computer and at least glad I can make ANY kind of post until later :) One thing I learned was that this vacation was more of a journey of self discovery than one of relaxation and thrills. We did have a blast in Malta, loved Italy as usual, fell deeper in love with France, astounded by Turkey, and between Greece and Paros...they own my heart! I've also resolved rid inept people and services like the black plaque. If you can't bundle it...stay away. If you can't get pressure or fix this mess with a warning of water contamination or issues...I will hire a third party to evaluate everything from my house to the water companies pumps...then get a well,

I also know I sobbed like a baby when we had to board the beautiful Carnival Vista. I really felt a connection of some sort there. And when everyone on board would ask where I am from...anywhere but here lol :D Although I was born in Tennessee and was Miss Memphis 1st alternate...I haven't lived there since puberty so normally I just say New Orleans. Both Jim and I have more years there than anywhere but since we are both children in the wind...we've decide to just say "God and our Mama's" ;)

Leaving my heart in Greece

Till then...we may hit New Orleans for our birthdays with the dogs, and then take another week vacation this fall to continue renovating. Maybe we can go back to Louisiana.