On my vacation, I saw a HUGE PELICAN!

Jacqueline Onassis put Mykonos on the map as one of the most popular of the Aegean islands... but "Petros" the pelican has made his mark too. I had read about "Petros" and was thrilled that we got the chance to see him. I guess he was wounded and is now the town pet. He just walks all over, in and around the narrow walkways within Mykonos.

I found the restaurant that we ate at in one of my books about Greece.

I, of course chose the Greek Salad. YUMMMM!!!!

We also shared the cucumber dip and fresh bread. Wow!!!!!!!

This is our view from the table where we were seated. Myconos is also famous for it's windmills...
and charming white churches. In fact all the buildings were painted white. It was magical.
Last but now least is a photo of a small vendor selling fresh vegetables and flowers.

I still can't believe I was there.

A Tribute to Cory Jenkins

Two days ago my daughter Chelsea's husband's brother was killed in Afghanistan. His name was Cory Jenkins. He left a wife and new born baby girl. Cory served as a Physicians Assistant. He was a man of Honor and Integrity in his personal life as well as in the career he had chosen. We will miss him very much.

My daughter's in-laws' neighbors have also honored Cory with displaying American Flags throughout the neighborhood. This is the link to see a story about his community where he grew up: http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/2009/08/27/20090827coryjenkinssoldierkilled08272009-CR.html

and here are several news articles about him: http://news.google.com/news/more?um=1&ned=us&cf=all&ncl=di5g7G2SQ0F4EzMDnzz56QvUpMLpM

I pray that his death was not in vain and that Afghanistan will someday be a place of freedom...

On my vacation, I saw ANCIENT RUINS!

Okay, I found a somewhat decent picture of me and here I am standing in front of the back side of the Parthenon. There has been a lot of renovation here since my last visit 10 years ago. They say that in 15 years it will be restored to the state that one will be able to walk inside. I'm keeping that in my calendar!

Here are Brooke and Hilari standing in front of The Caryatides. It is amazing to think that these beautiful monuments started to be built in 437 B.C.!

This view is from on top of the Acropolis looking over the city of Athens.

Our tour continued with a drive through Athens. We saw Hadrian's Arch, the Temple of Zeus and many important buildings of the Greek government along the way. We then stopped at a jewelry shop. The whole bus of people tried to cram into this one little shop, so Brooke and I went across the street into this little market. We finally found some safety pins to buy that we needed for our "toga party" later in the week. I enjoyed browsing in the markets so much more that the shops that sought out "tourists".

That night on the ship we did a little karaoke. This is the Yarmis family. We met at dinner as we were seated at a table for ten. At first we thought "oh no" but within the first ten minutes our table was laughing and we became good friends. We even did things together on the ship! I loved seeing all the wonderful sites on our trip, but the most fun was hanging out with the girls and my mom and our new friends.

I didn't get a picture of Brooke singing for some reason. Anyway, the host asked her to be in the "Royal Caribbean's Got Talent". She blew them away!

On my vacation, I saw GUYS IN SPEDOS!

During the times of day when we were not at port, we sampled the various activities that are offered on the cruise ship. There were two swimmimg pools and four jacuzzis AND since the percentage of cruise quests were European, most men wore very small spedos. ("not that there is anything wrong with that"... aka Seinfeld) This view is taken while sitting in the very top Bar area that is non-smoking. During the day it was empty and my Mom and I relaxed there a bit.

My Mom also gave me two dollars to play at the slot machines. I was down to one nickle when I got a jackpot! I won $2.50 and paid my Mom back the $2. and proceeded to lose the rest. It was fun and the nickle slots didn't make me feel guilty for "gambling" ("not that there is anything wrong with that" either)

Each day when we came back from a shore excursion, a towel animal was waiting for us.

Below is the Monkey that was taken down right away because it was too freaky...those eyes and all. (I might have a problem with inanimate objects looking at me.....)

Here we are walking back to the ship from a day of touring. I have been on bigger and smaller cruise ships before. I thought this one was very nice. They even had a Ben and Jerry's!

( We posed this way so that our bodies would twist and create an illusion of "thinness"...need I mention again that there was a Ben and Jerry's?)

On my vacation, I saw a PALACE!

Our third day of our cruise took us to Corfu, Greece. We toured the Achilleion Palace in the village of Gastouri. It was built high on a mountain top and the view below was so beautiful...all green and the Ionian Sea in the distance. There were several statues all along the garden path surrounding the Palace. I would hang out there all day if I could.

Inside the Palace were wonderful works of art. These were "modern" of course as they were painted in early 1900's.

Below are these freakish plaster angels on the wall that seemed to watch you as you walked around the room. They kind of creeped us out.
After this we went to an overlook to see "Mouse Island" and then we stopped in the old quarter of Corfu Town. We shopped and stopped to eat at a cafe. All the tables and chairs outside were painted a sea foam green. (I'd show you a picture of the place, but we all look too fat to show you. I downloaded roughly 600 photos so obviously I don't look good in any of them so vanity keeps them locked in my hard drive.)

This was my fabulous lunch... a typical Greek salad. I could eat one everyday!!!

Of course, another market scene. I have this fascination with the shapes and colors of fruit and vegetables. This whole trip gave me ideas and inspirations for future paintings and I look forward to spending time in my studio.

On my vacation, I saw an SARCOPHAGUS!

On the second day of our cruise, we stopped at Split, Croatia. We visited a cemetery in Solin, the ancient site of Roman Salona, that housed all of these wonderful sarcophagus's (coffins) carved from stone.

The girls kept trying to get my Mom to get inside of one for a picture. I don't blame her for running from them!
We then went to the town of Trogir. It is a very small island squeezed in between the mainland and the larger island of Ciovo. I had to take a picture of the charmingly colorful sign outside a ice cream shop.
In the town we looked around the farmers market.
And right by our bus stop was a grocery store. We were excited to go in and see what they had to offer.

We bought some bread and a much needed diet Pepsi for me! (except that Europe just sells Pepsi "Light" which does not taste as good as the "Diet" formula... which actually was a good thing because I didn't drink that many, so that helped me kick start the process of quiting drinking so much of the magic elixir.)

That was a fun day!

On my vacation, I saw a GONDOLA!

Yes, I am now home from my FABULOUS vacation with my Mom and daughters Brooke and Hilari. Our first stop was VENICE. We landed early Friday morning and spent the night at Hotel Antiche Figure. The front of the hotel faced the Grand Canal. It was lovely.

That night we ate at a wonderful little restaurant. Our table was at the edge of the canal. Twinkly lights set a magical ambiance, so I thought...Why not get the lobster? Our waiter brought the live creature to our table to show us it's magnificence. When the waiter told me that the crustation would cost 150 Euros, I had to embarrassingly decline and opted for some pasta instead (which was delicious). Needless to say, the waiter was a little disappointed. We then topped off our meal with geleto! YUMMMM!

The next day we took the water bus to Saint Marks Square. We found (or rather she found us) an English speaking tour guide that took us directly inside the Basilica and gave us an amazing tour throughout the church. This was my second time in Venice, but the sights and artwork were as awe inspiring and the first time I was there.

We then hired a "private boat" to take us to the Cruise port. We thought we were so Fancy!!!

So here were are in the boat looking forward to our cruise with Royal Caribbean. Excited and looking forward to our adventure!!!

Vacation Plans!!!

Tomorrow I am leaving on a cruise with my mom and two oldest daughters. This is where we will be going. EXCITING!!!

Food, Inc.

I watched the movie Food, Inc. last night. WOW! My family has been trying to eat more healthy lately and for me the statement "ignorance is bliss" (on the subject of eating) was the position I took for a long time. In the last year I have learned more and the statement "knowledge is power" is taking over. It's time for a change...for me personally and for the food industry.

That's my two cents for today.