TOP 5 QUESTIONS: (for 6th Month)

SIXTH MONTH - Aug 19 - Sept 19

1.  With all the different countries and different foods and different water, have you been ill yet?

 No, neither one of us.  Rich did get sick aboard the sailboat in Croatia, but that was mostly because a bottle of Rakia fell onto the floor of the cabin when we were on rough seas and the fumes really bothered Rich, along with the seasickness.  Shari was seasick on the huge waves following a huge storm in Greece.  We were traveling on a small ferry from Marmaris to Rhodos Island.  We've only used bottled water in part of Italy and some of the Balkan countries.  Other than that, tap water has been just fine.

2.  Where have you had a memorable food experience?

Most of the time we eat at our host's home.  They either cook or we cook for them.  There have been MANY amazing meals, but the one that sticks out most in our minds was the Jakobsen Family in Goteborg, Sweden.  When we arrived, they were working on a dinner with salmon wrapped in a bread crumb topping with fresh herbs, onions, green beans, salad, and potatoes.  We had traveled all day by train so we were very hungry and it tasted so good.

Oops - almost forgot to take a picture.  YUM

 Another memorable one was with Line and Jonothan in Moss, Norway.  We all made pizza together.  We had bought Jonothan's favorite, Line had mad her gluten-free crust pizza, and we had made a vegetable, Hawaiian, and combo pizza.  We ended up not cooking the frozen one.  After all there was only four of us.  Pizza Nite was a definite hit with Jonothan.

Pizza - three different kinds...OOPS!  I forgot to take a pix of Line's pizza - it was great!

Linne & Jonothan looking forward to Pizza Nite

How can we leave out all the Chinese stir-fry dinners we've made on this trip?  This is Rich's expertise - "Kung-Pao Chicken" is what he calls it.  We've probably had it at least 10 times.

Various vegetables, chicken over a bed of rice with a handful of peanuts on top.  We also made a yogurt dressing over various fruits for this particular evening in Derby, England

3.  What was the scariest experience this month?
It just happened a couple of days ago as we were flying Ryanair from Dublin, Ireland to Paris.  When we got to the security check-in, we put the boarding pass through the scanner and it kept rejecting it.  They hurried us off to the authority's desk.  He immediately said, "You're at the wrong airport - you need to leave."  We looked at each other - WHAT?  How do we get to another airport; we'll miss our plane; how can this happen?  With further investigation, Rich realized he had grabbed an earlier flight's paper by mistake (2 weeks old), so he searched for the new one for Paris.  He found it - WHEW!

If you know anything about Ryanair, there are some horrible stories.  They have many rules and regulations.  I explained some of them in an earlier post about their weight restrictions of carry-ons.  Our backpacks were not to weigh more than 10 kilo - a bout 21 pounds.  Our luggage had to fit in a small sample box they had there.  You cannot carry anything else on - no purse, no camera, etc. etc.  We had triple layers of clothes on, a jacket, and our coat, so our luggage wouldn't be overweight.  Our pockets held many items, too.  You have to print your boarding pass ahead and you can't fold it in half.  There are fines for everything if it is not met.  If luggage is over, you pay 60 euros more and they will check it.  So, we get to the gate and hand them our passorts.  Rich is put in one line and I go to another.  He goes right through, but the guy says to me, "Didn't you read this part?  I look at the teeny tiny print without my glasses.  What?  "You have to have a stamp downstairs on this piece of paper if you have a passport.  You cannot go through.  You must get it beforehand.  Didn't you read it?"   I then remember that was something I had read, but because we had checked in online a couple of weeks previously, I had forgotten.  I think I turned gray and by then Rich came over and wondered what was happening.  There was a long line behind me and maybe I looked old or scared or something so the guy said, "We'll let it go this time, but you better not let it happen again." 

After going a little way down the ramp, the two girls behind us, who happened to be Americans from California, said we were REALLY lucky he was in a good mood.  They had just sent an evening in the airport because they had done the same thing.  They ran with their backpacks back down to the entrance of the airport, got the stamp,went through security again (long line), and ran back, but they told them it was too late and would have to get another flight.  It cost them each $200 more and they had to wait til the next day to fly.  Horror story!  I'm sure glad I had said my prayers that morning.  
4.  What has been your favorite place for the 5^th month?

I LOVED the last 2 days in Bayeux, France.  I don't have the pictures downloaded yet, but it was the cutest town in Normandy.  I saw the most beautiful cathedral ever (I'll see Notre Dame tomorrow so I may change my mind).  It was FREE, there was music playing in the background, it was in its natural state because it didn't get bombed in WWII.  Stay tuned for DAY 182 when I'll explain why.  Cool story!  We loved our hosts - a young couple and their parents gave us such a beautiful time.  We saw all the D-Day Normandy sites, the American, British, and German cemeteries.  We saw the beautiful beaches and the colors and on and on.  It is the best preserved town - again because it wasn't touched during the war.

Rich loved this last month.  (me, too)  We had wonderful hosts AND beautiful scenery, and fantastic times.  Everywhere we went from Stockholm, to Oslo, to Bergen, to Moss, to Goteberg, to London, to Bath, to York, to Inverness, to Belfast, to Dublin, and finally to  Bayeux, France.   He really enjoyed Bath as we walked through Jane Austen countryside and the quaint town.  We also enjoyed our evening sunset along Stonehenge.  What a wonderful two days we spent there.

Jane Austen used to live in Bath and got inspiration for some books from here.

Stonehenge from afar

 This is as close as we could get because of a new fence they had put up.  It costs quite a lot to get in and we were there after hours.  It used to be that you could drive by and get much closer, but the road was blocked off.  Next year they are closing off the whole area, making you park far away, and charging much more to come see this amazing phenomenon.

The sun is setting on Stonehenge.

I had bought a postcard and was teasing everyone about charging them a euro to get a picture taken with it, since the authorities were giving a fine to anyone who climbed over the fence.

We had brought a picnic to have during the beautiful sunset over Stonehenge.

5.  NO 5th question as it is 2:30 a.m. and we have a full day tomorrow at the Louvre Museum and Notre Dame Cathedral - up EARLY to get in line.  So - good night and tomorrow I'll finish my post for the next two days in Prague and then we go to Poland - so many stories there!

Stay safe and happy everyone and thanks for reading along and traveling vicariously with us.