Calzione Italiano

Briana hosted a lovely luncheon for Ariana, Adriana and me ( Donatella ) in her lovely new apartment

Holiday Activities

Holiday activities continue: The IWW continues to walk, Ryan participated in an amazing choreographed performance at the Flip Factory featuring a variety of gymnastic displays, Bob and Audrey hosted a wonderful party where we reconnected with many Guedos.

Anacrusis Recital

Brennan skillfully  played Smoke On The Water at the Anacrusis Music Holiday Recital

IWW Winter Party

The IWW cycling and walking group met for a winter potluck extravaganza hosted by Evie Wallace. Delicious vittels, delightful libations and much merriment were enjoyed by all.

Winter Celebrations

We were privileged to hear Ryan play his alto saxophone at the Woodman Junior High School Band Concert and to watch puppet shows performed by Brennan and his classmates at the  Haysboro Elementary School. We were delighted to be treated by the Taits to a performance of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe at Rosebud Dinner Theatre.

JR's 72nd

Go Stamps Go

Mexico

Wonderful month in paradise with a Book Club Meeting  a highlight.

Sunday brunch with the bunch

Black Sea Cruise

My old computer and my new phone are not compatible so I can no longer download photos so unfortunately I cannot share the wonderful sites we saw on our trip.

I can report that we enjoyed our revisit to Istanbul and saw some things we had not seen on our first trip and those we'd seen before are so marvelous it was a pleasure to revisit. The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Bascillica Cisterns, and  Galata Tower  were some of these.

Our trip to Kapadokya was fantastic. We stayed in a delightful pension with great food and friendly people and went out one night for a Turkish dinner with Turkish entertainment including whirling dervishes, folk dancers and a belly dancer. The highlight was the ride in a hot air balloon, along with a hundred other balloons, over the amazing rock formations of the area.

We visited Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, and  Greece by sea, seeing monasteries, archeological sites, museums and delightful cities with medieval old town centres. We had two professors aboard who enlightened us each day on the sites we'd see the next, which enabled us to fully appreciate what we saw.

Since there were no children to visit in the UK we travelled to North Wales and had an amazing few days, seeing the beautiful rugged coastline, green sheep filled pastures divided by little stone hedges, some castles and  quaint villages with various attractions. We stayed in pubs as old is 1597 and loved the pub meals. Also saw the church where Chris & Den were married and the pub where they had their reception.

All in all another great excursion bringing to 508 the number of the 1000 places we have seen and to 58 the number of countries we have visited.

Chicago

We had a few short, but wonderful days helping Lucinda, Kev, Bryn and Ellis with their move to Chicago. We were able to take the boys to the Shedd aquarium where the jellies and sharks were most fun,  Robertson's Farm where the corn maze and go carts were the highlight and to Legoland   where Ellis and JR built amazing models. Happy to give dear Lucinda support.

Sep 10: Believe it or not

Cycling the Legacy Trail

Autumn

These are AUTUMN leaves and there is SNOW on the distant mountains!!!!

Family Reunion

Selkirk Mountain Experience

With 16 friends, I went heli-hiking with Selkirk Mountain Experience to the Durand Glacier Chalet. We enjoyed  some wonderful well maintained trails through flower filled meadows, over streams, up chains, and  beside lakes and glaciers. The chalet was  comfortable, the food exquisite and the comradery so much  fun.

Emma Lake