The last of our guests and a drive to England

After we got back, we decided to travel to MPP so we could pick up a few puzzles from James, visit with a few friends, and just have a few days of time alone together without guest, help, and workers.  

First though, a bit more fun with Tanner.  He made an amazing aged tomahawk dinner for us. Turns out he's a pretty good cook.  

The next day we decided to go visit a few antique stores, one of which ended up being closed but Tanner was able to pick up a few gifts and we found a few more display cases.  

On our way back to the castle we decided to stop off at Orvieto so I could show him the beautiful duomo there.  I'm pretty sure I did a ZTL violation.  We shall see when I get back home. 

Tanner helped with a few lego puzzle boxes and we had one last very good dinner out in Panicale.   This time overlooking Lake Trasimeno from the balcony of the Mossolino. 

I took Tanner to the airport on Sunday so our trip really started then.  He and George spent the morning working on the 3D printers while I packed the rest of our bags for our trip the following day.  

Around 1 or so we took off for Rome.  The trip was uneventful but we did manage to have one good last day of chat. It was a real pleasure having him stay with us.  I can't wait until he comes back with Jesse and Geneva.  

We got home around 7, had a late dinner and packed the car for an early drive.  

Our first stop was Aosta where we stayed at the base of Mount Blanc.  What a beautiful area we chose!  We have decided that this will be a goto spot on future trips.  We really enjoyed this route.  It has stunning scenery, and the drive is an easy one for me.  I finally worked out how to divide the trip into three parts.  I'm becoming more continental now. I don't want to drive more than 6 hours a day with a nice leisurely lunch picnic (and a nap) in the middle. 

The next day we drove to Reims and stayed at a F1 hotel. Nice name.  Sparse hotel.  I received an email just before arrival telling us we needed to get our own towels.  Too funny.  But for €48 a night, what can one expect.  Seriously though, it was a comfortable bed, a very tiny shower and a loo.  It was all that was needed for a nights sleep.

We arrived at Calais a bit early as usual, and I'm guessing because it was a Wednesday and there weren't many travelers, we got on the train 2 hours earlier than planned without having to pay an extra fee.  Surprise!  This put us in the UK at around 11 am.  We then drove to the North West of London to spend a bit of time with one of George's friends. Apparently, the three of them climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro together. We had a nice walk through the commons where we bumped into some cows, then we headed off to a local pub for a traditional pie and fish and chips dinner.  They were lovely people and I look forward to going back for another visit. 

On Thursday we woke up and headed for Honiton where we stayed with James and picked up a few more white puzzles, some magazines, and a few other odds and ends of puzzles.  Lindsey thought me how to make avocado soup and I remembered how much I love heated blankets. I must remember to get one for our bed in the castle. 

While at James' we had a discussion about Berrocals which lead me to do a bit more hunting, which in turn lead to a purchase of 4 more prints.  Just when I thought I had them all, more show up.  The collection is getting much bigger as we speak.  At the same time, I discovered yet another outdoor work in Italy that I simply must go see.  Turns out, it's not that far from our home so I think on the return we will stop by and take a look.  

Oh, and James has cows too!

We had a lovely dinner together and discussed the return of some of the kept puzzles to the collection. All in good time they will be returned.  For now, we have obtained the cricket bat yet again and I've given James a list of those puzzles that I purchased from the ones he kept.  I don't want him to be completely puzzleless.  Although, he has been doing a great job of repurchasing many more puzzles since we cleaned him out.  His shelves are once again filled.  

Friday after lunch we took our leave as the car didn't have internal dash lights so I didn't want to drive at night.  We came up with a temporary solution of led nightlights that I could turn on when necessary, but it wasn't ideal.  We stayed again in the Westmead Hotel. We had a nice dinner in and an early bedtime.  Tomorrow is MPP.

IPP Post trip

The post trip as with the IPP Proper is more about the people than the puzzles.  There were very few puzzles I saw out being played with.  I must say first that I need to be forgiven for the order of events.  We had a whirlwind tour or Israel with more stops than expected.  Everything now is kind of muddled together so I will give the highlights in an absolutely incorrect order.

The first place I remember going into was a cistern that is near the western wall.  This is a marvel to me. We have a cistern completely filled in.  This one in Jerusalem still has water in it. A few goldfish too.  

From there, we walked under the western wall.  At some point we saw a brick that was 13 meters long!  This is the foundation of the wall.  I placed a prayer for my good friend, and learned from one of the people with me that all of these prayers are considered holy texts and are collected and kept for future generations.  They are apparently treated with the same respect as the Torah. 

We did an excursion through a wet tunnel in city of David.  I didn't even know there were tunnels here. This part I loved!  I had George in front of me and Oskar behind, and we really had a great time walking through. I realized that I could put my flashlight on my phone on and leave it in my pocket.  This gave us just enough light to see.  There was water in here as they diverted a river at some point in antiquity.  At its highest, it was up to my thighs. Most of it was only just above my ankles. The highlight though had to be Bill's expletive when he felt the cold water!  He didn't sign up for cold water.  

Once we finished that, we then headed fo  a tunnel through the sewers that would return us to the old city. This bit I hated.  It had way too much ducking even for me and my 5'4".  George was behind me followed by Tanner.  After he banged his head, I began to call out duck every time it was necessary. In front of me was Dmitry and we had great conversations about animal sounds and onomatopoeia.  I learned a lot of Russian that day. The walls were so narrow, we all ended up with 5000 year old petrified poop on our clothes.  No. This bit I wouldn't do again.

The next few stops I know are in the wrong order, but that's just the way it has to be.  The first place of note was the Gardens at Haifa.  This garden has 19 terraces built into the side of Mt. Carmel. It was built as a holy place for the Bahá'í religion.  It's beautiful, but I'm not a garden person. We had the option to visit this place on our Around the World Cruise and we passed it then, we would have this time as well had we been given the choice.  Sadly, that didn't happen.  You can read more about the gardens here. 

Next up is Caesarea.  A purpose built city made by Herod to impress the Roman empire.  The architectural ability to build a city in the harbor is amazing.  The ruins?  Not as much.  But we all enjoyed George pretending to be a chariot and racing around the grounds.

The theatre was pretty impressive, and the flying nun!  Well, she just made my day.  

Acre was yet another stop. This place was interesting from a religious stand. I enjoyed the tunnels and the history around me. Old Akko is a must see for any student of history.

The House of Peter was ... well, the church on top of it ruined the experience for me.  Enough said. 

We took a hike in nature park.  The little critters at the entrance were interesting, and the hike was amazing.

But the best part?  The Waterfalls! Our guide was surprised that we all jumped in.  Well, almost all of us.  There were a few who stayed out of the cooling water.  It was so hot though, that from one waterfall to the next, our clothes dried.  

We had a night tour our Bet She'an National park and I want my money back!  This has got to be the best Roman ruins I've seen outside of Italy.  We were there at night and it was Disneyphied. I hated it!  I want to go back during the day and really see it.  I guess we are going back to Israel.  

Our next stop on the tour was Masada. Why?  I knew there has to be a reason, but it is in the middle of nowhere.  It's amazing that the city was built and the history is incredible.  But why?  I was impressed though.  we had to be off the top by noon as they close the park. People have died in the heat so the government has put a stop to it by closing during the heat of the day. 

The Dead Sea is the reason we went on this trip. This was something I've always wanted to do.  Sadly, I didn't get a really good photo floating, because poor Tanner fell and hurt himself.  My phone ended up in the water, needed a bath and was out of commission for 2 days. I really love Apple!  It is right as rain again as though nothing happened.  The water tastes terrible and no, you can't swim.  All in all, it was worth while.  

Somewhere along the way we were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee...

We had a bedouin lunch but first there was a camel ride....

And a nap

And finally, we said our goodbyes to the last of our friends in Israel and hopped a flight home. I'll leave you with this one last photo and the fact that what should have taken 6 hours took 12. We arrived home just before midnight and all passed out shortly after.  

Until next week.  Arrivaderci e continua rompicapo.