I am still on Euro time so I will have to catch up slowly
on sleep. I was wide awake before 2 a.m.

We had a wonderful time. I think the people that we met were
as interesting as the places that we saw. I fell in love
with Greece and particularly Olympia. We had a Dutch guide,
married to a Greek man so that she had a unique prospective
on the dowery system and mother in laws and the evil eye. I
was surprised to find that the dower is still expected in Greece and Italy and that they won't give up their belief in
the evil eye. The Greek people were so sweet to Ted and I and so very helpful.

I couldn't choose between Tuscany and Sicily because they are
equally beautiful and different. I was not a big fan of
Tuscan food because I got tired of beans and pasta but I had
a wonderful antipasto dressed only with local olive oil. The Italian wine was so good.

The cruise ship was fantastic. I had enough on board credit
to get money back and the price of drinks was reasonable.
We had a veranda and a beautiful state room. We were taken
care of like royalty. Again, the people we met were as much
fun as the places we saw. I loved Florence but after we
saw a little art, Ted was too tired to really stand up to
as much as I wanted to see and he was not able to shop so
the only things that I brought back was a Venetian mask and
some animals made from lava rock for the little kids. We
should have done this several years ago because of the state
of Ted's health. Be warned and don't put travel off because
you never know what will happen.

The only downer was the long flights. Delta and Alitalia
were a lot better than United. United has such crunched
up seats that I wasn't comfortable and Ted and the big
guy I was between took up all the room even though they
tried not to over flow on me. I didn't mind the scanning
or the patting down and can't see what the fuss was all
about. I always set off alarms because of my knees so I
expected it. Alitalia furnished wine and beer with their
meals free of charge and were much more casual about security.

I think a cruise ship gives much more value in a European
vacation because our dollar doesn't hold up to the Euro
and the hotels and meals are so expensive. If you could
find a cheap bed and breakfast in Tuscany, or Greece and
eat with the locals you might be able to do ok. The streets
were quiet and I think the media has over hyped the riot
thing like they usually do. They lie and blow things out of
proportion all of the time.

Now, I am ready to catch up with all of you. I don't intend
to ever get on another air plane and home and Rex look really good. Rex slimmed down some and was really glad to
see us. He wanted to be with the other dogs so they put him
out of his suite into the run that he could go in and out
of at will.

Teal certainly has a valid complaint about the mail. We
have a mail slot and the tub was full and it was spilling
out on the floor. I am brutal and just throw away all the
solicitations and free gifts. It is a waste of time to
mess with it.