 Delphi  Tango Dinner in Buenos Aires |
 Cabo San Lucas  A farmer in Hungary |
One of the great joys of being retired - at least before the current economic situation - is being able to travel.
After I retired we went to Tuscany, spent two weeks, and fell in love with Italy. A couple of years later we were able to go on a river cruise from Venice down the Adriatic to the mouth of the Po, and then up the Po. It was on this trip that we met Ted and Carol, who live in Klamath falls, Oregon, and who became our travel buddies.
My 2003 graduation present from myself was a trip to Alaska with several days there and then an ocean cruise from Juneau to Vancouver and a few days in Seattle.
Our second trip with Ted and Carol took us to Rome where we spent a few days before we embarked on a Mediterranean Cruise.
The following December we met Ted and Carol in Prague and took a Christmas Market river cruise with them from Passau, Germany, down the Danube, to Budapest.
Our next meeting was for two weeks in Greece, where we spent time in Athens before hopping ferries to the islands of Paros, Santorini, and Mykonos.
The next year we met Ted and Carol in Buenos Aires and spent a few days before getting on an ocean cruise ship to Montevideo, Uruguay, the Falklands, and then around the bottom South America - Fin del Mundo - and up to Santiago, Chile.
That fall we visited them in Oregon, and they came to our house in Illinois, the first time in five years we had seen each other in the U.S. A couple falls ago we met in Wisconsin for a Frank Lloyd Wright tour, and then they came back to our home in the Chicago 'burbs.
We have also taken a river cruise to the Balkans where we visited Dracula's castle, saw Romanian dictator Nicolai Coucescu's obscene palace in Bucharest, built to rival the Pentagon, then traveled up the Danube to Budapest.
Another joy of retirement is grandchildren - although they're a joy at any time. We combined grandsons with travel and doubled our pleasure, doubled our fun.
We took David in 2001, three months before the Twin Towers Tragedy. We were able to take the Eurostar (the Chunnel train) to paris for a day with David. He wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame. We also visited the gendarmes after my pocket was picked on the Metro.
And we took Jonathan three years later, after his parents settled their nerves about letting him travel abroad. While my wife visited her late 'English Mum' in Nottingham, Jonathan and I took the train to Warwick and went to Warwick Castle, owned now by Madame Tussad's. He waited until the end of the day to climb the parapet, and by then it was too late. Grandpa's legs had given out.
After I retired we went to Tuscany, spent two weeks, and fell in love with Italy. A couple of years later we were able to go on a river cruise from Venice down the Adriatic to the mouth of the Po, and then up the Po. It was on this trip that we met Ted and Carol, who live in Klamath falls, Oregon, and who became our travel buddies.
My 2003 graduation present from myself was a trip to Alaska with several days there and then an ocean cruise from Juneau to Vancouver and a few days in Seattle.
Our second trip with Ted and Carol took us to Rome where we spent a few days before we embarked on a Mediterranean Cruise.
The following December we met Ted and Carol in Prague and took a Christmas Market river cruise with them from Passau, Germany, down the Danube, to Budapest.
Our next meeting was for two weeks in Greece, where we spent time in Athens before hopping ferries to the islands of Paros, Santorini, and Mykonos.
The next year we met Ted and Carol in Buenos Aires and spent a few days before getting on an ocean cruise ship to Montevideo, Uruguay, the Falklands, and then around the bottom South America - Fin del Mundo - and up to Santiago, Chile.
That fall we visited them in Oregon, and they came to our house in Illinois, the first time in five years we had seen each other in the U.S. A couple falls ago we met in Wisconsin for a Frank Lloyd Wright tour, and then they came back to our home in the Chicago 'burbs.
We have also taken a river cruise to the Balkans where we visited Dracula's castle, saw Romanian dictator Nicolai Coucescu's obscene palace in Bucharest, built to rival the Pentagon, then traveled up the Danube to Budapest.
Another joy of retirement is grandchildren - although they're a joy at any time. We combined grandsons with travel and doubled our pleasure, doubled our fun.
We took David in 2001, three months before the Twin Towers Tragedy. We were able to take the Eurostar (the Chunnel train) to paris for a day with David. He wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame. We also visited the gendarmes after my pocket was picked on the Metro.
And we took Jonathan three years later, after his parents settled their nerves about letting him travel abroad. While my wife visited her late 'English Mum' in Nottingham, Jonathan and I took the train to Warwick and went to Warwick Castle, owned now by Madame Tussad's. He waited until the end of the day to climb the parapet, and by then it was too late. Grandpa's legs had given out.
