CHRISTMAS LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE

While not superstitious, this is the second time, almost to the same date, that our family has gotten bad health news at Christmas time from Miami. In December 2011, his Lordship Mario Carl got his cancer news, and now Aunt Julia – the Contessa de Quejas—had a stoke. If there is to be a troika, Mr. FOG is the logical number three. With Julia being Number Two, FOG has started planning on a Chicago Christmas for 2015-the next odd year, far away from Miami. It may be colder, but safer health wise.

THE DRIVE

FOG made it to Miami in short order and in better shape than on most other trips. At his slow but steady below the speed limit driving, resting; sleeping, eating etc. it took 22 hours to drive the 825 miles from Asheville, North Carolina. Everyone, yes everyone, else passed Mr. FOG. Only a slow moving chicken farmer and a truck pulling a boat were slower. Proud to drive at a prudent 62 miles per hour, he has a slightly lower gas bill, and saved $5.43 to be exact, as his reward. However next time there is a family emergency and there is the need to get somewhere fast; FOG will ask Nurse Sherry to take the wheel.. She has a fashionable Prada lead foot and knows how to use it when necessary.

Aunt Julia’s heath news is mixed, but better than what it could have been. I spoke with her cardiologist by phone when I was an hour away in Ft. Lauderdale and the diagnosis was that she had a stroke. I had been told for two days that she just had a bad fall and a blow to the head, since the CT scans did not detect a stroke. On Friday night or really Saturday early morning around 4:00 am, she blacked out and fell down while going to the bathroom. She was able to call on a neighbor who rescued her around 6:00 am and by mid afternoon on Saturday was in the emergency room. Yes she had a stoke(s), but perhaps they were minor one(s) and perhaps there is little or no permanent damage, only a temporary condition that should improve. Let’s see if this is the case. Presently she is actually OK. She was an incomprehensible “Tower of Babel” on Monday and improved to dyslectic on Tuesday afternoon. Her speech is improving, and I can now understand some of what she is saying. I am not interested in most of what she has to say. I have heard all of this so many times before.. Little puppies are shown being abused in a TV commercial to get you send money, so she cries. Obama is running this country into the ground. Why can’t life be as it was in the 1950’s when the United States was a role model for the world? Regardless of the topic, we are having semi-lucid conversations, but as have been our phone conversations for sometime now, she rambles about extraneous topics we have covered so many times before. This is not a stroke symptom, but has been Julia's new "normal" for sometime now. These life events inspire some self reflection, and I suppose my own idiosyncrasies would also be suspect. Please kids, I am actually really sane, in my own way, and there is no need to send Mr. FOG, although he may in a fog at times, to Shady Acres, just yet.. If you have to send him somewhere -- a round the world cruise would be a much better choice.

FOG’s NEW TEMPORARY JOB For the short term, a few weeks at most; I plan to stay in Miami and help her back from the hospital and transition back into her own home. They probably will send her to rehab or some sort of therapy as well and give me a break. As I know more about Aunt Julia’s condition I will share. You may remember her from the Blog as the Contessa de Quejas (the Countess of Complaints).. FOG is finding out that it is a rough job market and you have to take low paying jobs, well-below one’s capabilities, often with diffulcult bosses. He had been a chauffer/man servant/butler .to his Lordship at the Vinings Mountain Castle. This was a position of dignity that he performed well and had good job references. Just recently he was a world traveler and foreign travel correspondent. However it seems as if Mr. FOG has accepted the position of scullery maid for the Contessa de Quejas. You may read more about the Contessa in our December 2012 Blog -- Cruise Lifestyle Issue ... More on Mr. FOG’s new temporary job as a Contessa’s Cinderfellow will be reported in future Blogs as he vents about his "employer". Surely ,"Take This Job and Shove It" will be a future Blog topic. Hopefully it will later and not sooner.

ASHEVILLE CAT FASHIONS

Watch out Paris, Milan, and New York; the new Asheville Cat fashions are hitting our runways. The Western North Carolina cat fashions, as the people fashions, are a mix of hippie, thrift store, and retro. Ugly/Pretty Cat’s new caregivers gave her the latest in Ashville cat Fashion, surely from one of our top local couturiers. As you can see it is a short coat (jacket), in a light mustard color, with a large collar. As an outside cat, she loves her coat to keep her both fashionable and warm on those cold nights. I am sure she is the envy of all the other felines in our Five Points Neighborhood. DISCLAIMER: I have not told Ugly/Pretty Cat, but the jacket looks horrible and is really a doggie coat. I looked at the lable and saw a hole for a leash. She would be very embarrassed to know she was wearing a canine coat that makes her look like a cat bag lady. Also given her svelte body lines, a longer jacket would have been best for her body type. To wear a short coat, she needed a matching skirt or pants to complete the ensemble. A belt too perhaps would have helped. However, the color does match her coloring in a drab sort of way and it does keep her warm. This is the important thing. When she visits me I remove the jacket so that she can groom herself.



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Following for your .enjoyment are more feline fashion models showing off. Perhaps you can pick up a fashion tip for yourself.

A GO FISH THANKSGIVING

We are back to the “Go Fish” cabin for the Duffy/Artesiano Thanksgiving 2013. The cabin has a great location on a rushing stream with an outdoor fire pit. This year we were treated to a bit of Christmas with an early snowfall dusting which melted quickly. We were last here for Thanksgiving 2011, and had bittersweet memories of a Thanksgivings past. In November 2011, just two months after the St. Simon’s Island wedding, his Lordship began having acute pains in his leg and we began the leg cancer saga. What a difference two years can make. His Lordship is back to normal and fishing away. Meanwhile on the cooking front: while Maid of the Mist while not ready to pass on the gold cooking spoon to heirs, is coaching Nurse Sherry on the finer points of the Duffy traditional Thanksgiving meal. This helps to insure the continuity of family traditions. Nurse Sherry performed admirably, with a seamless transition from a Maid of the Mist Thanksgiving meal to a Nurse Sherry prepared-meal. The happy eaters could not tell the difference. The 22 pound turkey took center stage with the usual supporting cast of mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, pearl onions in a cheese sauce, and cranberry sauce. A store-bought Mercier Orchard apple pie was the dessert -reward for the Trivia players. It was Duffy versus Artesianos. The Artesiano’s having an extra player won the game. Had Dan and Anna been here would have tipped the game the other way. Anna and Dan were in North Carolina with Beaver part of the family. Both Duffys and Artesianos were big winners, with the great apple pie, served warm and a la mode. A movie, football games, and libations rounded off our perfect family Thanksgiving 2013. From Maid of the Mist; Tom, the Often Wise; Nurse Sherry; His Lordship; Tom, Earl of Coors Light, Prince Phillip of Rum and Coke, Mister FOG, and Banks, the royal hound; we wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving and Joyous Holiday Season to all. We really have a lot to be grateful for and in the holiday present rush, don’t forget the truly important things in our lives.

The BLOG reports on FOG's international journey were cut off due to technical difficulties. A hotel room thief stole the computer in Thessaloniki Greece. FOG went on to Southern France for ten days, then Catalonia, Spain (Barcelona) for five, plus a Two-week Transatlantic cruise visiting Cadiz, Funchal (madiera Islands) Nassau, Bahams and ending in Galveston Texas. We regret the abrupt stop on the Blog, but it was unavoidable.

MUSEUMS IN GREECE'S SECOND LARGEST CITY

Today was a museum and city tour day in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, and in the province of Macedonia.  There is also a country of Macedonia to the north, next to Bulgaria.

The museums did a very a good of taking a visitor from the early civilizations to modern day.  This part of Greece was a natural trade route between Asia Minor (Turkey) and the rest of Europe and has had a lot influential visitors/conquerors.

The area's claim to fame began  around the time of Alexander the Great, a Macedonian who conquered the Persian Empire and pushed as far east as Pakistan or India, and south to Egypt.

The museum is famous for their Macedonian gold collection of this period.  Primitive goldsmith work, but impressive.

Conquered by Rome, the area enjoyed the Pax Romana and was an important trade route in the Empire.  There are still some buildings from this period, although changed along the way to suit whom ever was in charge.

  The Rotunda building for example, was first designed as a mausoleum for a Roman big shot, but as Christianity grew, the building became a church presumably Romanesque, then shifted to a Byzantine church as Rome's influence waned and Constantinople's grew, then when the Ottomans took over, of course it became a mosque.  When the Greeks threw out the Turks, it became a church again, but it is in rough shape.  It is like a lady that has too many face lifts, but lucky to be alive.

As Rome fell, Latin was no longer used and the Byzantine empire became more Greek.  There was also the split in the church, Greek Orthodox int he East and Roman Catholic in the West, although   I am sure it was still the same God.

Around the time Columbus was discovering America, the Ottomans were taking over Greece and trying to push on to Vienna and take over the rest of Europe, or at least as much as they could get.

The picture is of the White Tower, an Ottoman contribution to the city's landscape and no longer white, is remembered for a massacre of Christian young men who were forced to convert to Islam and serve the Sultan.

Sometimes the tour books say that Islam was respectful of other religions and did not try to forcibly convert others, i.e Jews, Christians and Muslims lived in peace,  Yet other times there are massacres if population did convert.  To keep this in its proper historical perspective, there are also plenty of Christian to Muslim atrocities.  In any event the White Tower, previously free, now charges three Euros to go up.  There were few takers.

In the East, and I am not sure why, icons became the big thing.  Roman Catholic churches, perhaps keeping the Roman love of statues kept statues of the saints while the Orthodox church really liked icons.  The museum has an extensive collection.   The one shown is a post byzantine work--after the fall of Constantiple.

While a Madonna and child is a typical portrayal, the breast feeding is not seen as often.

I may be off line for a day or so.  Tomorrow, Friday October 25; I fly to Girona, Spain.  It is north of Barcelona and  near the French border.  My plans are to head to the South of France for a a week or two.  If it gets too expensive, then I will head south back to Spain, probably Valencia.

Snow White night lights are protected  Spiderman on a busy Thessaloniki sidewalk.  Square pants whatever and other character add to the collection, but it is Snow White with her lighted gown that shows off.

 

METEORA

Made it to Kalanbaka, but not on the bus. This time I chose the train as a nice change. It  had bathrooms, a snack car and you could walk around a bit. It was about like our Amtrak.Kalanbaka is the larger town in area called Meteroa, famous for its unique rock formations.

Meteora is derived from the Greek meteoros, meaning suspended in air , and the English word  meteor is from the same root. Perhaps more interesting is that about 26 monestaries were built on these rock formations, primarily as bastions for the monks to escape the bloodshed as the Byzantine empire was collapsing and other peoples were moving in. These inaccessible fortresses allowed the monks to safely pursue their peaceful monastic lives.   The area has six or so surviving monasteries and is a UN World Heritage site.

However the monasteries of old is not really what you see today.  The monasteries have been modernized over the years.  Yes the Meteora is still wonderful but roads have been put in and steps have been carved in the rocks to allow visitors. The monks now use cable cars to get across the from the road to the monastery.  The restorations went overboard and really have been a rehab, much as you would take a Victorian house and modernize it.  I wanted to see monks and lots of them hauling up supplies with a donkey via a rope, or better still locking up the place to defend it from a bus load of tourists.  Some blood on a rock would have been nice.  Today there are only a few monks choosing to live on a big isolated rock visted by tourists.  I can't say I blame them.

I went to the more isolated monastery for great views of the other monasteries.  I could see four of the six and was on the fifth.  It was a moderate  isolated hike through a gorge and hike up to the rock.  I hiked up from the valley floor village where I am staying to the top of the rock where the monastery was built.  It was about the hikes I do blueberry picking.

 For the lazy and infirmed, the buses bring the tourists on the road who have to walk a path and climb 125 steps up.   I show  a couple of my pics but the area deserves many more.  And below are lots of them on two links for you to enjoy.  It is another side of Greece very different from the Acropolis and isles such as Santorini and Mykynos that we are used to seeing .

https://www.google.com/search?q=meteora+images&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=6SdnUr_hIMO50QXlnIBg&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=656


These are Gabriele's photos of the Meteora.

http://www.lovethesepics.com/2011/02/mystical-magical-magnificent-monasteries-in-meteora-20-pics/

HOTEL AND FELLOW TRAVELER

The hotel was great and run by two savvy women.  Would stay here again.  Met up with Steve a fellow traveller who, although it is hard to believe, is more thrifty than I am.  He does couch surfing to cut down on hotel bills.  I had heard of it, but thought it was just for the young who don't care where they sleep.  He is about my age,   still smarting from a divorce but getting over it with a Russian girl friend who is younger than my children.  Got suggestions for the South of France.  He leads a travel group there yearly, but apparently this is not a couch surfing trip.


IZMIR REVISITED

Izmir, the coastal Turkish city from which I flew to Athens, is not particularly memorable.  However the taxi ride to the airport was. The shuttle bus was running late and four of us plus the driver, plus luggage fit into the taxi. We had three Turks, two Chinese women working in the Sudan, and me. The story of the Chines women is interesting. They are in the travel industry. The Chinese, I have heard, are investing heavily in Africa for both natural resources and construction projects. This brings Chinese to Africa. The Chines travel agents, work in the Sudan presumably arranging travel for the many Chinese in the Sudan. The Turkish man has lived and worked in Bangor, Maine; and South Africa. He was heading to Rome on business. We split the taxi and paid the same price as the shuttle bus and all have a more interesting memory of an otherwise bland airport trip.

A couple more days in Greece, then head to the Barcelona area.  Think I will stay put a bit longer in one place, probably Avignon, but could head down to Vallencia.

BACK IN ATHENS

This is what is left of Hadrian's Library in Athens.  I don't think I posted it, choosing to show you Turkish newly weds, but back in Antalya, Turkey, there was a Hadrian's Gate.    I also vaguely remember there is/was a Hadrian's wall in Britain built to protect Roman Engalnd and Wales from the Picts of Scotland.  In any event, apparently Hadrain was popular as  Martin Luther King and had lots of things with his  name.

I am back in Athens six months later.  The economy seems a bit better.  I went back to my favorite gyro place and wolfed down another one.  It was as good as I remember.  The cook said the potatoes (frech fries) cooked in the Corinth style make the difference.  I would have liked to have another for lunch tomorrow but I will be on my way.

I decided to by pass the Peloponese Peninsulas or the more touristy islands.  I did not want to see anymore piles of rock, at Mycene, Delphi, or the site of the first Olympics.  I want to see rocks that are still in some sort of shape to actually make  a building or parts there of.  Travelling 5,000 miles to  just imagine the building from its foundations doesn't cut it.  The islands would have been nice , but take more time to do them justice and things are starting to close down on the islands , although the weather is still very good.

I am going to do some hiking and see stuff that is still standing.  Tomorrow I take the train from Athens to Kalambuka in northen Greece to see spectacular monestaries,  and one nunnery.  I am not sure if the nunnery is originally a nunnery or a monestary now being used by nuns.  These places of meditation and worship were  built on high rocks for protection as the  Ottoman invasion of Greece unfolded.  They were instrumental in preserving Greek culture.

Below are some things I saw today:  a pretty church steeple near central Athens, the Nike (Victory gate), and the Acropolis.  It was nice to be back in Athens.

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BIRTHDAY BUS

Thanks to all of you for so many birthday emails and electronic cards.  I will see the mailed cards you sent, when I get home around Thansgiving, so it will be a birthday/Thanksgiving card.

For my birthday I treated myself to a Kamil Coc bus ride from Antalya to Izmir to catch my flight to Athens.  The steward on the bus remembered my birthday with a glazed birthday cookie.  Attending my surpise bus birthday party were about 40 other souls with whom I could not talk to, but seemed happy enough to be on my birthday bus.


BAD GIRL MANNEQUIN

I  saw this mannequin, appropriately wearing her head scarf but taking a hint from the Scandinavians and going topless.   The other mannequins look on disapprovingly.

 Leaving a topless mannequin in the window  is not a correct thing to do in Turkey.  But perhaps she is a rebellious "bad girl" mannequin.

This "bad girl" mannequin reminded me of my head scarf story from my last trip to Istanbul.    , I saw a young woman with a head scarf.  Wearing a head scarf connotes a certain sense of modesty.  However this young lady was also wearing a very, very tight blouse, and the jeans were tight also.  My sense was that it mattered little that she wore a head scarf, since she was a well-endowed woman, attention immediately went to her chest.  I thought that the head scarf would have been put to better use to cover her size "D" girls.  Do they make a scarf for the breasts, or is that what a burka is for???

HAPPY ANNIVERSARIES

Best wishes to Sherry and Mario and Anna and Dan.  I was reminded , in seeing  many brides during my Saturday walk in the park.  There were seeing  at least six different couples.  Here is a sampling, of looking into each other's eyes, the flyaway veil, and the bunny holding couple.  Is bunny holding at a wedding ceremony   a Turkish custom to suggest having many children, remembering the breed like rabbits expression???.

CHANGE OF PLANS

I had planned to visit Croatia, but this has not worked out.  It is difficult and/or expensive to get to Dubrovnik from Corfu (Greece); and the ferries from Bari and Brindisi in Italy may not be running to Dubrovnik, perhaps having shut down for the winter.  It is the rainy season in the Adriatic and it seems not enough people travel the route to keep it open.

I opted to fly to Athens.  Spend a few days in central and northern Greece , before flying out from Thessaloniki to Girona, Spain which is near Barcelona and the French border.