Author: kimmiestravelsblog

They say to save the best for last and I’d like to say that was me,
She would laugh and say because she was done, is the way it would be.
But I was the last to be born , thr last to call her own you see.
So She told everyone,  this is my baby.

A difficult pregnancy I was I heard
Not for me but for her.
Backward I came, no holding back.
Wrinkled , fat, and hair of black.
Althought it eventually go from black to red
To all that would listen, “That’s my baby!” were the words she said.

The woman who.gave me life;  A rebel, a fighter, a worker and one strong  lady.
Echos my youth til now, but of course it would, I was her baby.

I knew my role and I played it well.
I knew how far to push til her resistance failed.
I got my way others would say.
Of  course I did, I was her baby as she shook her head.

Easter sunday she dressed  us girls fine
Patten leather shoes and gloves of  lace.
But she and I would  be alike ,from head to toe..With deep brown eyes and freckles upon our face
Like  a  1st lady , she fashioned that pill box hat over her locks of red
While that same crimson color, crowned my  tiny little head.
I was a bitty version of her ,Whether the memory came from pictures or from my mind
She and I, in our hats, shoes, and dresses of soft minty lime.
She was a real lady in my eyes and I was her baby.

5″1  and a ball of fire, stand her ground no matter what.Face to face, toe to toe, march on the capital with her protest sign.
Walked with the picket  in front of a strike. Fighting injustice and drawing that line.
But when it came to family, a bear she could be,
No one was was allowed  to hurt them, especially her baby.

The loss of my daughter, my beautiful girl was the day my  heart ceased to beat.
And she  was the only woman who knew my pain.,
For she too had said goodbye to a child that passed; her boys that left this world made her understand.
How  hard it was and how the pain would always  last.
All she had now was her  first born girll and me, her baby.

Mistakes  and  choices were made 
Regret guilt, and hurt  is something she would never say.
Yet, she paid prices far too high for her to bear far too much for her to pay.

Yes, my life is more privilege, easier and can not be compared.
But I.find similarities in hers and mine
Similarities  in our struggles were a lot alike in every way.
I will get through it all; I know I will survive because the love she gave me is why I am here today.

We  both worked for everything we have
Yet we feel guilty for what we cannot give,
Traumas and tragedies through our lives
Strengthen us so we could live
I survived all that life has been thrown at me, but to her I give credit because of the strength she showed and because I was her baby..

I know I was the cause of her many tear,  but I always knew I would be forgiven
Becausr I was her baby, and I can  feel it in every day that I am living

Her voice was the first voice my ears ever heard.
On the day she became silent my ears were  the last to hear the sound of hers .
I lost a piece of my soul when she left this world,, but to come from such a woman,  I’m honored to be her baby

Kim’s Misadventures….

It’s been a while since I have posted about my traveling misadventures, but the recent girls retreat is a must for those to see my “only me” traveling moments.
To begin, I wasn’t sure I would make the trip. The recent loss of my mother, serious concerns over my father and numerous other stressors were happening at the same time, all reasons I probably needed the break. I didn’t want to disappoint the other ladies so I chose to go.
The event began with my packing….and unpacking, and then packing again. I do not know what I thought I could humanly do in 4 days but if seeing the things I packed, would think I was staying a month. This coming from the girl who takes one carry-on suitcase and purse for 3 weeks in Europe….so it’s not like I don’t know how to pack.
As I began packing the truck I was thinking all the things I would like to do, so I pack bike and equipment; kayak and equipment, and just good measure a tent, sleeping mat and hiking poles???? I was heading to the beach, fir heavens sake.

  The next morning, I began unpacking the kayak, and hiking items, definitely not needed.

5:30 am and Yvonne arrives at my house. We go to pick up Joy. With all the items I packed it was a hard squeeze: to get everyone else’s items in . THank heavens for a truck…..

In regards to my clothes that I packed in which I randomly stuffed in suitcases I actually compiled the list when it was time to come home …Remember it was 4 days, plus the house had laundry facilities. After packing some stuff up, without checking through house here is what actually made the trip with me.
6 bathing suits, 3 skirts, Leggings, 3 pair pants, 7 bras, , 3 camis, 5 dresses, skort, beach towel, 6 pair shoes and 6 pair socks, Scarf, 2 sheets, blanket,
Pillow…then 18 panties, 21 shirts, 18 shorts plus pair biking shorts,….and all toiletries, makeup, curling iron, food drinks, heating pad!!!!
The plan was  to meet all together after I picked up Joy; however we kept missing .the turn off due to understanding of the meeting place…I actually  I completed  all 4 leaves of the highway clover  for the I81 exit….twice.
5 pee stops and  and a walmart stop we completed our 6.5 hour drive to the beach house where we met the rest of our party. They decided to go shopping while I lounged  on the beach.  Later we met for food and chilling out.. I guess I was ADHDIng when time to leave for food was discussed…because I was in my bedroom exploding, chit chatting on phone, when I walked out on to the porch to see everyone clean and dressed up….I ask whats up?…”just waiting on you,” was the response….oops!…

Nice dinner then sleep…except for yvonne who was drinking a few glassesof wine when we decided to go to the beach..The beach house was across the road from the fairly private beach. No lights enforced for the baby turtle hatchings…So armed with my phone flashlight we started strolling down the beach with wine glasses, barefeet  and  my phone flashlight. Watching the nearby kids  in the pitch blackness use little flashlights and a net to catch crabs…wait…crabs? Those white long legged, fast as hell, things that look too much like spiders  for me…but then I saw them…popping up everywhere!…My phone jerking left to right making sure I didn’t see or feel one….squeeling everytime one crossed my path…bouncing around like I’m walking on nails….I seen huge palm size ones flying along the shore….as I continue to squeel and flash the phone around I thought to myself,”so much for the light and noise pollution ban to protect the baby turtles!!!” During my crab dance;  Yvonne keeps on walking ahead without a light, in pitch darkness, wine glass in one hand, bottle in other….the crabs did not bother her at all, and yet I’m the one some people call fearless!!!!!

As we start making out way to the pathway to our house, it is then we realized there is really no distinguishable signs to let us know which path we took., We passed it twice and going as almost mile back and forth (which isn’t easy in sand, barefoot, jumping and dodging crabs)…I realize I had my phone and GPS!!!! Geez.

Day 2 July 13

2nd day after my suitcases explode all over my bedroom,, we were heading to Myrtle beach to spend the day at that beach, check out the scenery, and also for Marilyn and her daughter Gabby to pick.up Gabbys friend at the airport. So with them in one car and us other 3 in my truck we head out to Myrtlw. It was over an hour away, but it would be fun. Of course we couldn’t make it without stopping at least twice, had trouble finding a gas station  that had gas….go figure?! As the GPS was trying to find our way from or destination, we actually didn’t really know where we were meeting , but we finally made it to the strip. I thought we were going to meet on 10th street, so I found a nice parking garage to park in at no cost…it was really weird how there were so many open spaces….lucky us!!!!
Joy thank goodness remembered to bring a cart to haul our beach items down to the next street and onto the beach…next we found out our group is on 8th street . So just 3 streets, how hard couldit be?….3 chairs, bags coolers and we are ready…yes the cart had wheels however; it took all 3 of us to take turns pulling it then a combination effort on the sand.  I was actually working up a sweat. ..as we arrived  onto the middle of the beach, Joy is asking to Marilyn on the phone….they were on 8th street north where we were 8th street south….hmmm, well I got a decent tan on south 8th street….
As late afternoon came, we start getting hungry and thought we needed to catch up with our group, for a fun evening. Loading up the wagon and trudging through the thick sand onto the street and up those 3 blocks….as we walk into the free parking garage, I noticed there was a hotel on top, and  a security officer walking around…yes, it was the hotel garage with signs stating , cars would be towed…..we wasn’t towed but o e way to get the security guards attention is to accidently set the.alarm of on the truck.
.twice. 
As we head to the north part of Myrtle to meet up with the rest if the gang, it seems we could not find a public bathroom nearby where we could wash a little and change clothes.  We parked in a legit parking lot and paid the gentleman, Changing our clothes was a feat in that truck, easy for little Joy and Yvonne…to say changing into a bra, and shirt behind the steering will was quite problematic….I gave up on the bottoms and just stepped out of truck to put shorts and panties on….I only wished I had seen the restaurant behind my truck….
We headed out to the strip and checked out a few shops while waiting on group…deciding to eat at a restaurant was deciding to spend 3 hours of your life waiting….so we sat at the bar and a couple of us tried out several of their delicious frozen drinks….3 on an empty stomach set my chatter box off….for the next hour and half I spent my time trying to convince anyone in my party to ride the slingshot with me…sort of like a reverse bungee…but I wasn’t very successful. After our dinner we walked around and yes we walked around where the slingshot was. This is a ride that had been on my bucket list for a while now…I really wanted to ride it, the other girls  told me the price so I jumped in line like a little kid….
Whether it was fate or what there was a man in line trying to convince either his wife or kids to ride with him, when Marilyn heard this she volunteered me to ride with him, because the ride required 2 riders….his wife was thrilled she had been saved….an hour wait and my continue chattering, it was now our turn….It was exciting and definitely lived up to my bucket list wish.

DAY  3 July 14
Another day to relax on the beach, walk the beautiful streets of holden beach, admire the houses, cooked dinner, and ride my bike…just to relax, a beautiful light rainbow peaked between the clouds illuminating the open space. I’d like to think that was my mom and daughter telling me they were together and all is okay.

Day 4: Today was another day of first for me…we started out the morning by doing a photo session of all 4 ladies with our matching tanks that said…”Girls just wanna have guns (meaning muscles) and buns. His logo was in referencing the fact we all met through our personal trainer and friend Mark Isaac…it was adorable shirt, bit I would like to point out, I don’t wear tanks. My top is not made for tanks…I have too much that just hangs out everywhere. It especially doesn’t help that I had packed on about 10 lbs since my mom died…..but I was still game for the pictures. That afternoon Marilyn and Joy went back to Myrtle to go parasailing; Yvonne and I decided we would explore Oak Island about 30 min away.
The red flag should had been when we were.getting into my truck.to leave the battery is dead. So being me, I just walk over to a house and asked a gentleman if he could boost me off, I was not expecting the first person I ask would say yes, bit he did.
30 minutes later and plenty of time for the battery to build we found Oak Island lighthouse and after reading the information on it discovered that there were 3 more somewhere nearby. We had our mission now, light house visiting…but my car had its own mission and that was to have another dead battery moment. Surely I would have the same luck again, after asking several people no one had booster cables….not even the Hispanic roofers 3 doors up. Yes I could call auto service or I could call 911 which was suggested by someone….the dispatcher told me she would send the officer out. About 10 minutes later I got a called from the said officer that by law they ate not allowed to boost anyone off, but she would come to me and see what she could do. She actually went to other places trying to get me cables. When she came back she had no luck…she offered to give me a ride to somewhere I could buy canlesand this is where my first came into play…I got to ride in the back of a police car behind the cage 1st time in my life….
The officer took me to the auto store and I believe I met a very special salesman, (notice the sarcasm dripping from my words) My question  is if they had a booster pack or our something similiar….it appeared that his eloquent language included one word every other sentence…”Gotcha” yet he could not tell me if what was beside him on the shelf was a battery booster or not…whether you could use it before charging or not, or even how it worked…I simply said I’ll take the cables….however he did not miss the opportunity to attempt to sale me the higher better quality brand….Gotcha!
Getting back in the patrol car, I told the officer that the special salesman didn’t know if they had booster or not….but O bought cables. She was as stunned as I was….I told her that when I get back to my car I would flag down someone to boost me off. However, when we got back to my car, she said she wasn’t going to leave me stranded so she boosted me off…I thanked her, offered her money (a big no no) but she was so helpful I just couldn’t thank her enough.  Once we got it boosted off we headed back to the auto store to test battery. It appeared the special salesman had left and now I had the conman manager.  He placed the tester onto .y alternator and said it passed therfore it must be the battery….he asked something about the lights then showed me a number on the tester and said that the number was too high…he then said, “it’s the alternator”. My heart sank into my chest….I asked him to recheck, he did another test and the test said the alternator was good, bit his opinion it was bad…..”hmmmmm. can you now test the battery ?”  I asked. Well how about that, it was the battery that had a dead cell….but, don’t let the conman be outdone. After a few questions about the truck, I was so surprised when he said, “well we got 1 option” of course you do I thought.  ” The battery for your vehicle will be $182.00″ so my gold plated battery is now in my truck and it runs ok. Yvonne and I attempted to see another light house but just wasn’t gonna happen, instead we went by a park that had some live music and we listened to a few songs and took pictures of the sunset.   Since the concert ended at 9pm it was time for dinner. Oak island must eat with the chickens, because every place we found was closed. We walked on to pier and the restaurant there said the only place was a little deli up the road. Pulling into the dinkiest dive in the area turned out to be the best grilled chicken sandwich that I ever ate….pretty good long Island teas too. Heading back to the house on our last night to crash on my exploded bedroom and bed, I fell asleep for about 3 hours. I started dreaming about having to pack up all that stuff…so at 4am I’m up, packing up the monster of a mess, just in time to get beautiful sunrise pictures.

Final day: the ride home….up and out by 8am. Suppose to be on the road to get back in time for a concert that I found out later was next week.
Yvonne rode with me and Joy rode back with Marilyn. I always take a side trip when I am on a trip, I will look along our route back to Tennessee if there is any waterfalls to see, not a big hike or anything, especially since I unpacked the hiking gear.  The one I chose was an abandon mill remains in Rockingham N.C. only a few minutes off the path.
One or two stops along the way as we followed the GPS to our destination.  If you blinked you would miss it….right off the road, no pullovers or parking lot. I drove around .the block until we found what possibly could be a path. Climbing through brush, knee deep in kudzu. Rock climbing in our beach shoes,  cool remains and a waterfall coming out of the vandalized graffiti filled  wall.  Picture time and  fun little stop.  Traveling home. That little detour only took about 20 minutes still giving us plenty time….that is until  the what should had bern4 hours  took 7 hours. 10 slowdowns and detours. Going from N.C., to VA finally to TN. More winding country roads than we should ever have to travel on.  Through Andy Griffens neighborhood, to Fancy Gap,  Joe’s gap or whatever gap there is. .

The week gave my mind a chance to rest, to reset  my thoughts and find courage in doing things I needed to do. 
Great time

So I decided to jump on board…literally with a group of friends taking a cruise to the Bahamas….sure why not?

From what I have gathered I obviously do things backward…people who travel my age normally go with cruises or tours while young ones will consider the solo backpacking in Europe and China…since I’ve already blogged about adventures in Europe and China, I figured it was about time I try my first cruise. So in many ways I can see why people say I’m alway doing things different….or in my mom’s words “ass backwards.” I have a theory that it is all related to the fact I was born breached (butt first) ; but that’s just my theory.

Middle of February and I’m on my way to Jacksonville Fl with my daughter Mekia and Lauren my daughters age. Meeting up with several friends waiting to get on the boat. I have been lectured and warned by dear friends who have done this cruise before…warning of the “rough areas” of Nassau….”Kim do NOT wander off!” I even heard one friend mentioning something about a tracking device…..geez….However; from my history, my friends know I lack of fear of new places, and I tend to wander off alone.

My first cruise: so busy, and having so much fun, so little time to blog about my adventures.  Our first day out to sea was exciting and fun. Worried about continuing my training and weight loss, I made sure I knew where the gym was.  My first experience on an elliptical…. I made sure I worked out almost everyday.   These were my proudest moments….Maybe I need to talk about my least proudest moments.

Purchasing the alcohol package, was something I thought I would utilize….well,  I did. Being able to drink Patron, and not paying $8 a shot was pretty good. Until the Patron made an impact. However; did not want to waste the use of that package.

The second night on the boat, I decided drinking Patron and dancing with house band would be a fun way to spend the evening, until everyone decided to go to bed at 12pm and I was still dancing. I danced with the old crowd, and later the college crowd cam out; the young crowd,and I danced with the band.  Yeah, I like to dance. After there was noone left to dance with, I get hungry. I heard someone in the crowd talk about pizza. I knew pizza was somewhere on the boat, but I could not find it. I roamed aimlessly on search of pizza. So around 1 am I give up and sent a text to Mekia asking her where the pizza was. However; this I found out later created a little humor for her. Coming to my rescue, she e came and took me to the pizza counter. I apparently knocked off the table into the floor. I lost my pizza, but I did get a little. The following day, I recovered from my patron hangover.

Exploring Nassau was a priority, where most people decided to just hit the beach…I love exploring. I love discovering new places. If I am somewhere I have never been, I needed to explore.  Lauren, Mekia and myself, opted for a guided tour, the others chose to go to the Hilton hotel, and lay on their beach. The city tour gave us the opportunity to really  see the place and experience the island. Our guide, throughout the tour, reiterated a message about  “over the hill” He stated it was not safe for tourist,and he warned us numeral times, talked about how people would get robbed and other. I believed he somehow quickly figured me out. He just kept saying don’t go over the hill.  When we left our guide, I asked him how to get to the Hilton, not where near the “hill” …he looked at the other guest and then a funny look at me said, “Did I just not tell you, NOT to go to the hill”  Everyone laughed and told him what I actually said.  It seemed he believed I would do such a thing. 🙂

My 1st cruise was fun, relaxing and enjoyable. I love the service, and the luxury; however; I still believe I am not made for cruises. I love the idea of being lost and exploring different places. I love the little things, the architecture, the people, the shops and the culture of places I have never been. It is good that I experienced the cruise, and I am not saying I would not go back on one. Travel anywhere to me is always a gift.



China 2012
Public
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Off to the Acropolis, on the agenda will be to visit the new Acropolis museum, take in the actual Acropolis with the slopes, the Nymph monument, woohoo: mythological stories come to life…

We toured the museum and I was reading all the little notes, checking out all the carvings, just amazed at what I was seeing.  Angie and Cherrie, found it to be interested, Julie was bored.  History not her thing, but such a great sport.  After the museum, Julie decided not to go to the Acropolis but instead would check out the shops and wait on us.

Climbing up the many steps while exploring the ruins on the slopes, was a challenge, like every other staircase in these countries but the site at the top was worth it all.  Many of the stairs were made of marble, a little slick, I could not imagine how slick they would be in the rain. Being able to see the entire city of Athens on every side was just amazing.  Picture opportunity everywhere, selfie stick heaven.  The ruins, columns were breathtaking. Knowing how old, how raw everything was made me very humble.

Picture, video, selfie, picture again the top displayed every angle of a massive city.  On the top other sites throughout the city such as  Monument of Nymphs, Athena monument, and others.  But in the last picture, a little drop of water landed on my nose. The sprinkles began, people started heading down the steps.  The rain got harder, I was trying to make my way down the stairs and get my little poncho out of my purse.  Already wet, the rain got harder.  On the top of one large staircase, a little Asian woman in front of me stopped, took out her umbrella slowly.  I could not pass her, because she and her friend was blocking the way. I couldn’t push her down, because that would just be wrong.  So I waited and felt every inch of my clothes dripping, and without even considering me standing on the step behind her, she opened the umbrella, and it smacked me in the face…..then she began stepping down, while I am still struggling to get my plastic poncho unfolded and nursing my face from her assault.  I continued walking down the steps, unable to unfold poncho because one hand needed to remain on the handrail due to the slippery steps.  I met back up with Cherrie and Angie, however, instead of going toward the entrance, we went toward the exit, which was much farther away. The waters running down the stones, paths, roads look like rivers flowing. Watching it cascade down steep like a river rampage.  We made it back to the museum where Julie was waiting on us.  We sat outside of the museum and then went inside to the cafe to wait out the rain….after around an hour, the rain finally stopped.

We walked down the tourist streets and ate at an open-air restaurant and shopped the vendors. We headed back to the room, where I was to meet with Eva the host to get help with the WIFI we were having trouble with. Eva was an excellent host and really tried hard.  while I waited for her the hostages took back off and ran around the corner, to the Bread Factory to load up on carbs for next mornings breakfast.  I sat up and watched Netflix while they went to bed…I don’t sleep, very normal for me.

According to the Email from our room in Santorini, the lady misunderstood my request to delay shuttle until later in morning. Because when I got the email, it stated that the room would not be open until 8am and the shuttle were picking us up at 3am.  She stated that we could hang out by the pool on the sun chairs until it opened….oh lord.

The flight to Santorini from Rome was fairly long and being so late at night, would be a good time for a nap…When our flight.  As it landed, a shuttle was waiting for us and took us to our room. It was a winding road but a beautiful site. However, being pitch black, we didn’t know what to expect. We were headed somewhere and didn’t even have a place to go into.  The driver lets us out at a beautiful villa but looked as if no one was there. The area which supposes to be a 10-minute walk must be described by Roma because the beach was so much further than that.

As we gathered our bags out of the taxi, everyone looked exhausted and grumpy.  All I could do was to remind them that it was an adventure.  I never promised luxury, just adventure.

Walking into the patio area, there was a kitchen cabana.  I put my luggage down, walked to the pool area, picked up a sun chair, carried it back to the cabana, and got out my airplane blanket and made myself comfortable.  The girls followed suit, not knowing what to think.  I told them, “I bet you didn’t expect to be camping in a cabana did you?”  “it’s all good”  Well, that is the way I think about it.

Someone snoring, peeing behind the van, layering the dirty laundry to be warm because the air was chilly with the wind, we rolled off the sunbeds when we heard the cleaning lady sweeping the pool area. Our new alarm system.   The greater of the hotel room stated that we could come in for breakfast, but check-in wasn’t until 2pm.  The breakfast was made up with a boiled egg each, set up in shot glasses (egg holders one day) more carbs: cakes, and toast. After we ate we went back out to pool and laid out in the sun, where we had replaced the sun chairs, and some of us, fell back to sleep.  Luckily, the villa, got the room ready, which actually was just a few steps away from where we were sleeping by the pool.  When we walked into the room, the race to the bathroom was our mission.

While cleaning up I talked with the greeter and set up a boat tour for the following day. I got the information about the beaches in the areas, transportation, and a map.  I also decided I wanted to rent the ATV from the business next door Dimentias ATV.  Unfortunately, I did not have an international license, so I did not get to do it.   (I am putting that on my list of to do this year).  Immediately the thing I noticed about Santorini, no one accepts credit cards, all in cash and it seems everyone has different reasons such as machine tore up, etc.   When setting and paying for the boat tour, we asked if we would get a refund if it rained.  She said, “it doesn’t rain here, but rarely. If it does only a little. It’s always pretty in Santorini” My first thought was: But I haven’t been here before!

Getting our things ready, we were going to hit the beach.  Walking to the Red Beach, and according to greeter was only 10 minutes away, we set out walking.  45 minutes later we are following the signs to the Red Beach.  Has anyone ever HIKED to a beach before?  This was a hike, over rocks and down a cliff. Crawling through crevices, over and over, and we just knew the water was close.  We had to pass through the Black beach, and white beach to get to the Red beach….all a hike of their own.  The rocks were gritty and pebbly but it was unique and something I had never seen, why would our trip to the beach part, be any different than the hikes we had taken every day since we left the states?  Every day of our adventure has been a walking, or hiking course of no less than 10 miles per day.  So hiking to the beach, should have been nothing to surprise anyone.  We hit the water a little but mainly soaked up the sun.  We were very tired, but knowing we had to hike that hike, just to get back to the road, was something we dreaded.  After enjoying our sun time, we set out to one of the beach restaurants, we came back up the hiking path to see an adorable wedding taking place with the backdrop of the sea beyond the rocks.  We found the restaurant “The Wave”  We met George….George Beninini or Belinini    George was a gentleman that was very funny, flirtatious, and perfectly Greek, and when we asked for anything, “for you, my lady, just for you”  I ordered bread, “for you, my lady, George Beninini will bring you bread, and olive spread, I made only for you!”  Angie asked for the password for the WIFI, and of course “Only for you, will I give you the password, George Bennini gives only you the password” and he did.  Julie asked if he had a bathroom, “for you my lady I have two, only for you my lady George Bennini has two toilets” Julie replied, “I only need one.”   However; I think Cherrie found the man’s bathroom since Julie got the 2 bathrooms…just for her.  As we got the check, he was pretty insistent as every restaurant in either Italy or Greece, just didn’t understand the concept of separate checks. “ George Bennini brings check”  Julie “we need the separate check,” “no George brings one check”  but we want to pay separate.  “You can pay separate, but George Bennini brings only one check” Ok, and to each of us as we were paying.  “Here is the check and if you want to tip for George Bennini, we accept those too.”  After he said this three or four times, very fast, Julie looked over to me and says, “George wants a tip. I believe”  With hugs and a kiss to Angie “ for her and her only George Bennini gives a kiss” we head back out for our hike to the top of the cliff to get back to the road.  After we made our way back we decided to take the bus so we could get back to our villa.  Hiking to a beach is strenuous work.  So we jumped on the bus, and when it got close to our villa, I pushed the stop button, then we waved at our villa as we passed right by.  A few miles later, we stopped in Fira.  We figured much like our bus in Praino, the day we went for our hike to the Path of Gods, it would just ride us around back and forth till the stop was in front of our villa.  No, we were wrong. In Fira, we were told to get off…Being confused, we got off, to ask the ticket place, how we get back to the villa the other driver passed. He told us we have to buy a ticket.  Being confused, that we had bought the ticket…”maybe it was a different bus” however, we were ushered back on to the same bus with the same driver,”  When they asked the name of our bus, I couldn’t think of the name….I knew it started something like:…ichlesdes, villadickless, illidillieless, I tried telling him the name of the ATV rental place, but he didn’t have a clue.  Julie could not do anything but laugh at my pronunciations…The bus driver looked at me like I was crazy…The couple sitting beside us said they were going to a “villa&%&/????::: “   All of us, said “That’s the name, that’s where we are going to!’   I believe the bus, had a chuckle also.

Back at our room, called for showers, and the attempts to get on internet…Only near the pool or kitchen did we have decent wifi.  Plans for tomorrow. A boat tour….I don’t think anyone will drown.

The Boat Tour: Up and outside waiting for the shuttle to take us to our boat tour. Down to the ferry docks, where we got onto the beautiful sailboat. Sure enough it started out raining….” it doesn’t rain here, very little” even the man from the boat, said rains in Santorini 5 times a year….but of course, I’m here. On and off the big part of our trip….winds pushing the sailboat back and forth and kicking up the waves. Our first stop was the volcano crater….well, we heard “need comfortable shoes”…we chose not to walk to the top, for one we all had sandals on, and second, we were all just wanting to enjoy the boat, Hiking to the beach was enough. The second stop of the tour was the thermal springs. Julie can’t swim so she opted out of swimming, however when they stated that you must be excellent swimmers, and you will jump off the side of the huge boat, swim from the cold green water to the brown iron thermal water. Also, it was announced that the brown iron will remain and stain your clothes. So again we opted just to watch many of the other boat riders jump off the boat, and swim toward the brown. While we were there looking up seeing several goats on the side of the mountain, made it a unique site. Also, the Asian tour group that was on the boat with us opted out also. They had brought their noodles and in their adorable cute swimming clothes…so swimming in the iron, just didn’t appeal to them either. The next stop was Thirasia. We were told good places to eat and advised not to take the 30-minute walk up the mountain to the town of 150 people with only one restaurant. However, along with the ferry shore, there were several shops and restaurants. Very nice beach restaurants, I decided to eat by myself, I had enough sandwiches for a while. I wanted protein. After spending a small time there, we loaded back on the boat to go to the town of Oia..to watch the sunset. The weather was starting to improve and all was looking great. Oia is famous among the travel magazines and tourist destinations. The white painted building,blue-domed roof churches look like a place from heaven. However when the boat landed on the beach, we looked up the mountain, and déjà vu of “Path of Gods” came back to our minds. The steps went to the top of the cliff. We were given the option to riding a donkey, but I don’t see myself crawling onto the back of that poor donkey. I am not into animal cruelty, and that is what it would be if I had gotten on its back, that what it would’ve been. So the climbing of the steps again, with slip-on sandals did not make it easy. Pushing close to the 1000 steps of the Path, however, these steps were spaced far apart and steep. Very difficult for short legged people. However, the donkey’s passing on the same steps left several unwanted souvenirs, One of the tourists, who had been so rude, and obnoxious on the tour decided she wasn’t going to sweat so she climbed on the donkey. When seeing the donkey leaving its souvenirs on the path, the lady started sliding off back and forth. Everyone around started laughing. She was yelling, the donkey guide started telling her there was no problem. She was chewing him out, so he told her if there was a problem, she could get off…She stayed on. According to Julie and Cherrie, that’s when she got off the donkey it decided to pee on her…That’s what they call Karma. I crawled up the steps, rested, pictures…crawled up the steps, rested, pictures….two thirds up the steps, off came the shoes, and I trudged on. Huffing and puffing I made it to the top.To shop, look, and find out where the bus will pick us up later in the evening. Seeing a traditional Greek wedding (of course) Eating cherries, and Santorini nuts, we made it to a rooftop bar, where we waited on the bus to take us back to the villa. From there we had a spectacular view of the beautiful sunset. Tomorrow plans were to catch the fast ferry to Athens for a leisure sunbath while we ride the Aegean Sea….We will see….

Day 14 Ferry ride: Packing our stuff to head to Athens. Thank goodness we could carry several bags of luggage on the ferry and we didn’t have to compress everything. The more we were here, of course, the more we shopped.. Making the packing more difficult. Being a little disappointed that the top deck of the ferry was not open because of the high winds of the ferry. The ferry itself was very nice and looked luxurious. It took 7 hours to get to Athens. Seeing the size of Athens from the ferry was spectacular. The massiveness of the site took my breath. I emailed and confirmed our apartment in Athens, and they sent a shuttle to pick us up at the ferry. When our boat arrived at the Marina a man named Panos loaded us up in a Mercedes SUV, Very much like the driver from Positano. Panos told us he was going to take us for coffee before the room because room not ready. The companions, of course, had heard many awful things about Athens, and this made for us to be a little wary. I silently texted the hotel to see if it was legit and if it was safe to go to coffee with this cab driver. He stated he was going to take us to different places. I told him that we just wanted to go to room and rest. He said will take you for coffee first. He asked if we liked city or beach, and he headed to somewhere way off the path. He seemed very nice, however, he talked about much political stuff and made us a little uncomfortable. He talked about his wife. He looked at me and said I think you are gorgeous,(how nice, until he said:) I love big women, my wife love of my wife weighs 260 lbs…Ok… Panos talked about how he lived in on an Island and seeing the refugee children coming to that area, the children would be raped, and he couldn’t stand seeing this and he moved to Athens. He loves Athens. Panos made sure to mention how Greece loved US, and how not to trust Turkey people or Russian…As stated before he did get political. When Panos stopped at the water area, I made sure I was documenting everything and took a casual picture. Casually letting people know where we were. No one having service and I only one having data, I sent messages to several friends saying if we were not heard from, the shuttle guy has us…..Some of my friends responded back thinking I was just being silly until I explained I was serious. I stated that either he was going to push to get money from us, or going to sell us off. If selling us was his plan, I hate to break it to him that I would not bring a good price unless selling by the pound. He ended up at the water’s edge at a bar that was playing funky music, very creepy. We sat on the bench and talked about water, while I continued to document. Taking a picture for anyone to see to send to the embassy if we are not heard from. He brought us all a soft drink and when I asked where we were, he showed on google maps, how the area we were at had no name….Great that is what I want to hear. We told Panos that we were ready to go because we were hungry and tired. Where I had texted the host before our side trip, she called him and must have spoken to him about our paranoia and in his native tongue, he sounded like a discussion, that when he got off he stated our room was ready. I suspected our room host had called him stating that we were paranoid about him wanting to take us for coffee. He did take us to the front of the parliament and through the historic district. He also showed us where the flea market was, and how it was overrun by drug dealers. He talked about how there were no guns in Greece, and he also showed us the doors where there were lights outside. He stated do not go in there because if the light is on, it is not a store. This is a signal for the prostitutes, that are free to have visitors…I told the girls, to make sure that our lights were off tonight. However, it was getting dark and we were ready to go into the room. Julie told him was only going to get something to go. He was insistent that we have a sit-down. We all explained too tired now to eat we were ready to go back. When he took us to our room, it was centrally located, however very rough. Graffiti on walls and a lot of trash. The place was barred up over the glass, and graffiti covered the walls. Of course, the girls freaked out. I, on the other hand, was a little nervous, but after Naples two years ago, I knew not to judge the book by its cover. Like the place in Naples, the outside was horrible, however, when she took us to our apartment it was pretty nice. It was not as nice as the pictures, but it was nice. The beds were very comfortable, very nice bedding, and very comfortable pillows and such, living room, kitchen, and everything looked fairly new and well decorated. So like in Naples, the inside was much better than the outside. The host showed us around, had drinks in the refrigerator for us, and was so helpful. She stated there were books if we were interested in our pleasure.  Reading the titles of the books, was very familiar to Panos political speech.   All the books seemed politically motivated.  Julies reaction:  We are in a cult!

DAY 11, finishing up Rome

We got up early this morning and took our luggage to the lobby of the hotel where we will be storing our luggage until this evening ..our flight doesn’t leave until close to midnight. This may sound strange, but when I book flights and I look for the best deal, I do not want my traveling time to be in the good part of the day….especially since I rarely sleep anyway. But to reassure I did ask my companions if this was something they were ok with…good deal, flying at night, they all said Ok, they were willing. If nothing else on this trip they have learned to wing it, go with it, there will always be a hike involved, nothing is ever easy, and if it could ever go wrong, it will with Kim…. luxury and comfort are sacrificed for experiences, adventure, excitement, and trying new things.

So the plan today was continue exploring Rome. We decided to go to the flea market, but I couldn’t remember exactly where the one I found a couple of days ago was…so asking someone he told me there were two…the big one and the tourist one….of course, we chose the big one….I warned the girls before we came Rome has a thing about saying everywhere is 5 minutes away…no matter where it is….well the guy told me it was 10 minutes away….so I knew this would be a longer hike….the girls decided this was Kim time….”just around corner ” meant 3 blocks ….5 Minute walk =1/2 hour….just up here was about 2 kilometers….so my philosophy: “when in Rome!”

So, of course, we want to go to the big market and understanding Roman timetables, that means it would be around 30 minutes away.  After walking several blocks, we realize that we were getting into a part of the town we were not familiar with and they seemed to be getting a little paranoid. May had to do with the constant looks and the strangeness of our presence in this neighborhood. So we turned around and headed back to the tourist market.  Angie and I had found a pair of pants we both liked, however, we never bought. I did buy a few things like everyone else. After a few hours of shopping, loading up on carbs, Angie wanted to go back to the area where the Trevi fountain was because she had found a purse there the first night.  After several “5 minutes away”, and just around the corners, we made it to the store, and she brought her purse.  However, the rain had begun, and our trash bag ponchos adorned our bodies. After taking pictures we decided to go back to the hotel and get luggage so we can begin our trip to Santorini in Greece.  It was 7pm and our flight left at 11:30 pm.  The gentleman at the hotel called us a taxi to take us to the airport.  I think riding with a Roma taxi driver is an adventure in itself.

 Emailing our next room in Santorini, asking for a shuttle to pick us up at the airport, and the times of our arrival.  However, the plan was to hang out at the airport for a couple hours then arrive at room because the room did not open until 8am. Of course, plans like that never work out.