Family Ties

The early months of 2017 were spent with family.  First, Matthias' parents came to Crete for a couple of weeks over the new year.  Then, in January, we went back to Florida, took care of some mundane stuff (doctor/dentist appts) and then left for a Caribbean cruise with mom, (aunt) Laurene, and (cousins) Josh and Elisha and Andrew and Lindsay.  We boarded cruise ship in Tampa,just over an hour's drive from my mom's house, but it was made into two hours because Matthias realized he forgot his suit (that he bought specifically for the cruise) when we were halfway there.  The cruise line was nothing special - we were all a bit disappointed with the facilities/food - but of course we all had a blast!  Here's a summary:

First night:  Sailing under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge at sunset was cool, especially since we drive over the bridge so much (every TPA airport trip).  We then had a belated birthday celebration (for me!) at the specialty restaurant.  I think I had a food hangover the next day.

Sky Bridge sunset

Muster drill!

Family photo on the first night of the cruise

Group photo on first night (and my birthday dinner!)  The only photo we got of all of us together!

First (sea) day:  Matthias and I got up early for coffee and breakfast - we eventually found the trove of smoked salmon (was hidden and you had to ask for it!) so we knew the score for the rest of the trip.  We spent the day getting to know the ship and lounging in the sun.  Mom and I tried some Zumba, Josh brought a few games for us to play on deck - and in various bars in the evening throughout the cruise - and we had our first dinner in the main restaurant - formal night.    

Our happy gentlemen - Matthias, Josh and Andrew

Davidsburg family on formal night

Day two - Roatan, Honduras:  Part of the group got dragged along with me to the main town (Coxen Hole) and market, where we grabbed the public bus to West End.  It was a tight squeeze, but kind of a fun drive through the countryside and villages.  West End wasn't what I thought - there wasn't much beach to it and it was pretty built up - but we had a nice lunch. Although mom cut her trip short and caught a taxi back the rest of us found a cozy beach where we could rent a snorkel and paddleboard. I forgot how awesome snorkeling is - must do it more often!   Then we took a water taxi over to West Bay where we caught a taxi back to the ship.

With Elisha on the bus to West End

Quiet beach corner in West End 

Judy on a Paddleboard!

Snorkling!

Elisha trying the paddleboard

Taxi back to the port!

Day Three - Belize City:  Another part of the group braved the "Judy and Matthias walking tour" of Belize City.  After walking the tourist route and wanting to proceed to the main market, we were warned by a few people that walking to the market was not a good idea, due to high crime.  We ended up negotiating with a local taxi driver to take us He charged $15 for what I swear was about three blocks, but he stayed and showed us the market, and then took us (probably another three blocks) to a nice place for lunch and then back to the Port, where the group parted ways and Matthias and I walked a bit further in the other direction (along the coast).

The ladies being super-good sports at the market!

Mom, Andrew and Matthias at a neighborhood restaurant

Judy, Lindsay and Laurene on the other side of the table

Day Four - Costa Maya:  Couldn't find much to do around here except laze around the beach, so that's what we did, after a (perhaps ill-advised) walk from the port to the beach.  We rented snorkels, had a nice ceviche for lunch (Matthias had a whole fish, Josh had fish tacos), and I pretty much forgot to take any pictures. Until we got back on board, that is.

Blue drinks - after the first sip, they tasted about as bad as they looked.  Matthias must be holding someone else's here - I think I see his beer on the table.

More blue drinking

Day Five - Cozumel:  This day the whole group (minus Matthias) did an excursion, grabbing a cab out to Playa Mia beach resort for a cooking class and "beach break" (liquor included!)  Turned out to be a great time!  The cooking class was fun - made even "funner" with margaritas - and even I could handle the cooking because everything was chopped/prepped for us.  After eating the lunch we cooked, we headed to the beach to PLAY.  They had something like a floating jungle gym - rubber rafts with ladders, slides and a trampoline volleyball area.  We all donned the required life vests and had a blast playing around.  Then mom and I went to check out the water slide, which was also fun.

The grown-up table

The kids' table

Joshin around in the kitchen

On the beach in Playa Mia

Day Six/Seven - At Sea:  One more day to relax and eat and drink before disembarking in Tampa. It was so great to be able to spend this time with family.  Fun, very little stress, and we're all still talking!  Lots more cruise photos can be found HERE.


And then....Mom came to Greece!!

In March, Mom hopped a flight in Miami and met me in Athens for a two-week Greek adventure. We took the ferry together to Crete, rented a car and spent five days in Pitsidia (at another apartment in our house).  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't so nice (it was sunny and warm the week before and after!!)  We visited the local markets and sights, but took it easy because mom was tired and coming down with a cold, though we did play lots of Rummykub.  From Pitsidia, we drove across the island to Chania and spent a night there before taking a series of ferries to Santorini.  Santorini was as gorgeous as advertised!  We spent two nights there - rented a car, toured the island and enjoyed the sunsets.  Then we flew to Athens for three nights - visiting the Acropolis and enjoying the city life.  I'll just post a couple of pictures here - click here to see the full album. I also did a full trip report for my mom that would probably be boring for anyone else to read, but can be found here.

First day in Pitsidia - short walk to the chapel by the sea

Mom and Matthias at the Palace of Festos

At Komos beach in Pitsidia

Walking down to komos beach

Venetian Harbor in Chania

Chillin on the ferry to Santorini 

Santorini!!

Sunset on our hotel terrace in Santorini

Judy's hike to Skaros Rock in Santorini 

Yummy lunch in Athens

Playing RummyKub at a cafe in Athens

On the Acropolis

Last night in Athens - vodka in pretty glasses!

And now, spring has sprung in Crete!  While I did find Santorini to be spectacular, I have a new appreciation for our corner of Crete.  It's got so much natural beauty (greener with many more trees) and is really laid back.  Okay, and in winter, laid back is an understatement.  We are (mentally) ready to take off again and will do so in about two weeks.  We have our apartment until April 8th, so that's when we're leaving.  The plan as it stands now is to catch the ferry to the mainland, ride back across the Peloponnese and take the ferry to Venice, where we'll begin our ride toward the Alps and Germany.  We plan to take our time so as not to hit the Alps too early. And a lot depends on how Matthias' bike holds up.  It's making funny (but different) noises again - and that's without the trailer attached.  So, here are some last views of our winter home in Crete!

Sunset from our apartment balcony!

On the way to the supermarket

Biking to the Saturday market with the snow-capped mtns in the background

View from our front yard - I will miss it! 

Year in review

Winter in Crete

Happy New Year!  My latest mini-project was to get my blog posts to list in chronological order so I could read them like a story. 

Click here, or on the link to the right, for all 2016 blog posts (starting in December 2015) from old to new, or continue on below to read the latest posts.  Cheers!

Half Century

Shifting gears once again, this post comes from Florida. Our recent (and near-future) itineraries have been so confusing that it's going to be difficult to make sense of it in a blog post. But I'll give it a try, and start by saying that everyone's doing fine. No suspense here.

Hiking in Crete

     

Fun Family Photo

On Halloween, we took up occupancy of our great "winter apartment" in Pitsidia, Crete, which we rented through March 2017, when the tourist season begins again. We fell in love immediately with our 300 Euro/month accommodation, complete with separate bedroom, kitchenette, reliable heat and hot water (!) internet and satellite TV (!!) and sea view (!!!) The original idea, however, was to find an inexpensive place (check) to use as a base where we could leave our things/bikes while we traveled back to the USA for a bit to attend a very special event, visit family and friends and take care of other "business". So after just ten days in the new apartment we weren't quite ready to leave, but it was comforting to know that it would be there when we got back.

View from our apartment

My laundry enjoys an even better view

We really do love just about everything about Crete, except how difficult it is to get anywhere else from there. This is quite a pain in the ass for wandering souls like us - particularly for Matthias (hates complicated connections, long flights, etc.) and me (always looking for deals that generally involve complicated connections, long flights, etc). This time, our route to the US involved a bus to Heraklion, an overnight ferry to Athens (where we spent the night), and an early morning flight (via Frankfurt) to NYC. We treated ourselves well, however, with an actual bunk on the ferry (slept well!) and a hotel right in the center of Athens (budget, but very clean and super-central with a balcony).  I could even see the Acropolis from the balcony, if I leaned over the railing. On the evening of November 8th in Athens (election day, but still early morning in the US), as I leaned out to look at the Acropolis, I contemplated the birthplace of democracy and hoped that I wasn't heading into the twilight of another one. Our flight was very early the next day, so we were on our way to the airport as US election results started to roll in - the pilot announced the final outcome during our descent into Frankfurt. Shock, tears and an unsettling encounter with a fellow American on his way to Houston were all part of that day.

Glimpse of the Acropolis from the hotel balcony

In New York, we had reason to celebrate! We walked and ate our way through familiar neighborhoods, hung out with Andrew, Lindsay and Laurene, and attended Stu and Lorenzo's wedding! It was a beautiful, moving ceremony and a fun party! The celebration of love between two such special people, surrounded by wonderful friends and family was just what we all needed. And it was great to finally (!) meet Lorenzo (and even better to get to know him later). Next, we met mom in Highland Falls where we had a great visit with family before flying down to Florida. That's where we took care of business. We succeeded in selling the truck and trailer in just two weeks - yep, the glamping life is behind us (for now, at least).  

Soup dumplings in NYC!!

Meeting Laurene at GCT

Stu and Lorenzo's wedding!

Family visit in Highland Falls

Thanksgiving in Sarasota
 side dishes - Matthias style

Next, I put what's known in my circles as Judy's crazy plan (and birthday wish) into action. Matthias and I flew back to NYC - he continued on to Crete, and I stayed on in NYC to start my friends and family tour. My plan was to reconnect with people I haven't seen in for a long time. Luckily, at the onset, Sue and her boys were in town from California, and even Matthias got to hang with them since - due to a Lufthansa strike (right?!) - his stay in NYC was extended an extra day.  After that, and a lovely evening with Stu and Lorenzo, Matthias took to the air and I got down to business.  It was a whirlwind journey, which included couch-surfing in Manhattan, New Jersey, Albany, Maryland, DC, Norfolk and Atlanta, along with tons of walking, buses (yay Megabus!), public transport and riding in cars with family and friends who so kindly shuttled me around! Seriously, it may sound hard to believe, but I had the time of my life reconnecting with people and doing things like watching awesome shows on cable TV, playing scrabble, picking up kids from school, going to medical appointments, listening to podcasts, and (oh yeah) eating and drinking and TALKING.  I can't even begin to write about how awesome it was and how grateful I am for all the fabulous hospitality - even though I didn't get to see everyone on the list.  I'll let the pictures (click to enlarge) do the talking.

Andrew, Sue, Noah, me, Michael and Eli

Barb dropping me off to catch my bus

Linda and her family -
Dylan, Cassidy and Bo (the dog) 

Out to dinner with Matt, Dean, John and Lara

Out to lunch with Susan and Dexter in NYC

I can't believe they opened my favorite store
in my old apartment building!! Literally next door!!

Lunch with Keith and Alice!

Visiting with Lauren and meeting Eli
for the first time!

Chinatown dinner with Andrew, Lindsay,
Stu and Lorenzo

DC visit with Jennifer and Brenda!

Everyone sent me off with
goodies for my journey - these
amazing cookies are from Jen and Brenda!

Sampling beer with Josh
in Norfolk, Virginia

Elisha and tyypo

For the last leg of the trip, I flew to Tampa from Norfolk and met my mom so we could drive up to Atlanta together to visit cousins there.  Though it went completely against my sense of order (and direction), it turned out great.  My mom picked me up at Tampa airport,  we donned our best Thelma and Louise attitudes and even stopped at a roadside motel and "Texas Roadhouse" for dinner (okay, it was a steakhouse chain and not a real roadhouse - but still!)  In Atlanta, Gloria, Fred, Danny and Florie rolled out the red carpet for us, and we really enjoyed the visit.  Then we listened to almost all of season one of the "Serial" podcast on the way back to Sarasota  - two episodes to go! 

Hitting the Road, Thelma and Louise style!

Solving the world's problems over refreshments with Danny

Danny and Florie's gorgeous family
(not pictured: Kemp)

Happy Hour at Gloria and Fred's

Back in Sarasota, I got to experience one more very very JOYful reunion - a virtual Hallmark movie Sunday where Olivia, Yvonne and I drank so much wine and had so much fun that we never even got around to watching the movie!  During the rest of my time in Florida, mom and I got things organized, played with Maju, and ate, drank and made merry with the Sarasota crowd.  I even spent an evening trying to understand/talk sense with some supporters of the new administration. Alas, our respective "truths" bear so little resemblance to each other that it was a wasted (and somewhat depressing) effort.  I guess I'll have to think of something else to try, besides getting the hell out of Florida, which I'm going to do tomorrow.  Driving with mom down to Fort Lauderdale (finishing the Serial podcast on the way, I hope) to catch a flight out.  I'm heading to Crete by way of Copenhagen (spending the night in town) and Athens.  Matthias' parents are visiting and we'll spend new year's with them.  Can't wait to say goodbye to 2016!!!  AND THEN, we're heading back to Florida in mid January to go on a FAMILY CRUISE in the Caribbean.  Yes, it's been a very poorly planned, yet eventful year of travel.  I guess I'm ready for the next half-century.

Virtual JOY!

Lunch with mom and Maju

Lunch at O'Leary's in Sarasota
(not pictured: Maju - under the table)