Wesley, Amanda and the mama at a Roman amphitheater
# 1 son visits!
Things can't be too bad when someone who has been here already decides to return. Our son Wesley was here 2 years ago when we took him all over Germany and surrounding countries. He decided to return this year with the love of his life [Amanda] to... (drum roll please)...meet the parents...
YIKES!!!
YIKES!!!
They spent two weeks with us, so off to Rome and all asundry we went, to initiate her on her first trip to Europe. After a few days to acclimate to the 9 hour time zone change, we set off with our first stop in Italy at the (leaning) tower of Pisa. Next up, the Colosseum in Rome, Roman stuff galore everywhere, and the Vatican.
This was followed by Hadrian's villa, Tivoli gardens and the Etruscan Necropolisis of Cerveteri tomb hunting. One of my favorite parts of our trip, this 'Indiana Jones in real life' experience, has been shared previously with daughter Mandy.
Tivoli gardens
This was followed by Hadrian's villa, Tivoli gardens and the Etruscan Necropolisis of Cerveteri tomb hunting. One of my favorite parts of our trip, this 'Indiana Jones in real life' experience, has been shared previously with daughter Mandy.
There are over 1000 of these tombs that date to 700 BC, making them up to 2700 years old
Paintings inside some of the tombs
The tombs of Norchia that we also explored
Nope. The Holy Grail is not in here either!
The only access into Civita, known as 'The city in the sky'
We wrapped up out trip by visiting Siena and stopping in Monaco on our way home.
Monte Carlo Casino
Chores? What chores?
Ok, I would have to make some up if we had not done any. Nothing exciting, really, just boring homeowner stuff. I installed a second set of washers and dryers that would typically take a few hours to replace, but here required two days. Holes to drill through the wall to install a dryer vent, jack hammer part of the floor to allow for a stacked unit, door frames to remove and re-install to accommodate appliances that would not fit through the door... you know, little stuff.
Then there were a dozen air vents to drill through walls and window frames to allow ventilation to prevent moisture buildup and the formation of mould and tons of little repairs and maintenance. All necessary, but nothing sexy. Finally, I re-textured the walls and ceiling of our living room and dining room. I promised Janice that it was a 2- 3 day job, which only took me 2 1/2 weeks.
The long and the short of it is that with the amount of company we will have this season, we may- or may not- get around to do much to finish the lower garden level rooms (2nd kitchen, 2nd laundry, 5th bedroom and 3rd bathroom) that are still raw concrete boxes. No problem. Whatever we get done will get us one step closer.
Team Rubicon
The fellows must miss me. Having been back for less than 3 months from my disaster response deployment in Florida, I have been asked to deploy twice to two locations in California for fire recovery, to Nebraska for flood relief, to Houston Texas for home rebuilds after the hurricane there, Guatemala, Guyana and twice to Mozambique (a country in South East Africa) for cyclone and massive food shortages. The last one interested me but conflicts with committed company we will receive here at the end of the month. OK, so it is not Paris or Rome, but if I wanted to travel the world's most destitute areas, this would be the way to go.
When I first trained to be part of Team Rubicon, I wondered if they would ever actually use me. Now I am finding that it is a bit like making a donation to a charity or political party. You get on their list and they will be contacting you at every turn.
I am sure there will be many other opportunities to help.
Operation Dragoon
Higgins landing craft. We have visited the factory in New Orleans where they were built.
The longer we are here the more historical tid-bits we pick up on. We have known that the invasion of the French Riviera by US forces during WWII led to the pincer move that caught Nazi forces between the D-Day invasion on the beaches of Normandy from the north and this force from the south. There are little plaques and memorials near our home here, but this month we discovered the beach where the main landing took place.
The place is called Le Dramont and it was a costly military operation. 7,300 US troops were killed and a US cemetery in nearby Draguignant has 861 of them burried there.
Other bits
There is a Facebook page for folks who are keen on keeping up with the latest happenings in the Thousand Islands. People post articles, pictures and videos of interest and this month Janice noticed two new ones. One was about the many interesting homes and cabins in the area, and a friend showed us that the "Bee" was shown twice in a video. Then, just a week ago, there was a picture taken from a drone as seen below. There is still some ice on the river but all our docks look intact, awaiting our arrival to let the fun begin.
