Hazard Kentucky

Hazard Kentucky has nothing to do with the Duke Boys, more like the Hatfields and McCoys. Hazard is deep in the Appalachian region of south-eastern Kentucky.

TR

Amish Auction Day

I spent Thursday in north central Ohio exploring Amish country. We stopped to visit a hardware store that is famous for a wide array of goods and stumbled across an Amish livestock auction across the street. Here I am in the parking lot outside of the action barn, watch your step!

TR

On the Road Again

I am off to Cleveland for a few days. Pictures when I return.

Rock on!

TR

Independence Hall

Independence is a wonderful thing to celebrate. DG is celebrating finally paying off his student loans! Free at last! Free at last!

TR

Surfs Up!

It’s been one of those weeks that gets me to thinking how much fun the Ocean can be. At this time of the year the water is warm and comfortable. When a tropical storm moves up the coast the surf is up and I am ready to ride. I have a key to Mom and Dad’s house in Florida and they have gone north for a couple of months; does anyone want to go?

TR

Waiting for the show

Every city should have great architecture. More then just building a space, great architecture builds a sense of place. The building should excite the visitors’ curiosity and draw them into the place. I love to explore great places. This is in Millennium Park in Chicago. I’ve been quietly at home for six weeks; it is another month before I am back on the road.

TR

Seeking Shelter from the Heat

At times a hat alone is just not enough shelter for sensitive birds in the blazing Greek sun.

TR

Staying Cool On a Hot Summer Day

Here I am staying cool on a hot summer day in Chicago.

TR

High in the Greek Countryside

Here I am enjoying a warm sunny afternoon high the Greek countryside at the Temple of Delphi. I consulted the Oracle and it said that I would live long and visit many exciting places as long as I didn’t melt in the sun, hence the sun hat.

TR

Melenium Park in Chicago

I've been reading about Bert, overheated in London. Just think cool thoughts and find someplace to wade in a fountain; it always works for me.

TR

A bit of a handyman special, but what a great location!

Here I am in the Roman Agora in Athens. This is just a couple of blocks from a major metro stop, right in the middle of all of the shops and restaurants that fill the Plaka area of Athens. The place is in disarray, there are columns, a tower, some great marble floors, and the remains of an ancient public toilet (a gift from the emperor.) There is even the remains of a public fountain with water still dripping in from a hidden spring. I could live here. The place needs some work, but if I look up the Acropolis is right there.

TR

Grilled Octopus anyone?

When we started planning for a trip to Greece I had dreams of fresh local seafood at a harbor front restaurant. Dreams do come true. I had grilled Octopus for lunch on the Island of Aegina. The fishing fleet was tied up just across the street from this delightful sidewalk café. Oh my! When can I go back?

Travel

I smell FISH!

I smell fish; the building across the street houses the historic market in Athens. The fish market is in the very center, surrounded by meat and poultry sellers. The fresh vegetable sellers are on this side of the street, but none of them had seaweed (like the market in Wales did three summers ago.) I may be tiny, but I can have a mighty appetite.

Travel

Live On Stage at the Pritzger Pavilion In Chicago

It’s Travel, doing his world famous travel monolog. The Pritzger Pavilion is one of several modern wonders in Millennium Park in Chicago. I had a wonderful time in Chicago, the crowds were so receptive to my message about the importance of seeing the world to understand the world. I can’t wait to return again next year!

Travel

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

I got my name from my love of travel. I love to go, be it by land, sea or air. Here I am waiting for the Metro train to leave the station from the Athens airport into the city center. Clickity-clack, Clickity-clack, ding, ding!

Travel

Acropolis

For well over 2000 years crowds have flocked to the Acropolis in Athens to offer thanks to the gods for the beauty that is Greece, to ask for favors and forgiveness and to absorb the wonders of it all. It is a bit of a climb, but well worth it. Here I am in front of the Parthenon. This ancient temple can be seen from the core of the city of Athens, serving today as it has for centuries as a true landmark, look up, take your bearings from the Parthenon and you know were you are in Athens.

Travel

Everybody Hurry Up!

Pack your bags, get your passport and Euros in hand and head to the nearest airport and go to Greece. It is wonderful! The weather is delightful; the people are warm and inviting. The Greek language is impenetrable, but most of the adults speak at least a little English. Buildings are considered new if they are less then 1000 years old. History and legend are dripping from every olive tree (and the country seems to be covered in olive trees.)

There will be more, much-much more to follow. At this point we have been out of bed for about 25 hours, and DG insists that he needs his beauty rest (and I don’t have the nerve to tell him it is too late!)

Travel

TAKE A BREAK!

When was the last time you took some real time off? Not a long weekend, or a week, but a couple of weeks or longer? Research shows that when you take a vacation it takes 3 or 4 days to fully relax and forget about the demands of day to day living, and then you start thinking about returning to home and work 2 or 3 days before you return. Hence if you take a week off, you barely have any real down time in the middle of it. We try to take a couple of weeks off every year or so. The last time was the trip to Paris at Christmas of 2004; DG was off from December 15th through New Years that year. We are very ready for another nice break. We will be back on the blog on May 19th. (And we are already making plans for 2 weeks in August of 2007.)

Take care; I’ll try to have lots of pictures and stories from the ancient world when we return.

Travel

Italy 2004

I pointed out to DG that he has his cities and bridges mixed up. Here is a picture of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence that was taken on my trip in February of 2002. I was there, but no one took my picture. Here I am watching the sunset on the Mediterranean at Ostia just south of Rome on the same trip. Close, but no prize, I don’t have a picture of me with the bridge in the background. The recipe would be fun.

Travel

Thinking European Thoughts

My wandering wings are getting ready to go. This will be my forth trip to Europe in as many years, what a lucky bird. The picture is from Christmas 2004.

Travel