More fun times with friends in The Villages…

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We’ve had a great time with friends Lea Ann and Chuck.

Lea Ann and Chuck arrived at the house exactly at 3:00 pm as planned. It was wonderful to see them. Although we’ve talked and stayed in touch via social media over the years, we haven’t seen them in six years. How time has flown! As mentioned in yesterday’s post, we met them on a cruise in 2017 on a cruise from Sydney to Seattle.

We’d only spent a few hours with them since the cruise was about to end, but the four of us hit it off and stayed in touch. When they arrived yesterday, we picked up right where we left off, and the conversation flowed easily and enthusiastically.

Us, last night at the Blue Fin while waiting for an indoor table with Lea Ann and Chuck.

As frequent world travelers, they both had similar stories to ours, although they have a home in Florida. They thanked us for encouraging them to embark on their travel journey and have spent a lot of time in places we’ve visited in the past. They even stayed in the house next door to the holiday home we rented in a remote area of Bali in 2016, loving the experience we had as well.

We’ll be anxious to hear about their nine-month world cruise beginning in December, which we discussed in yesterday’s post. They are very excited about this unique opportunity.

We get a kick out of customized golf carts.

We sat in the living room and chatted for an hour or so and then headed to Brownwood, where we once again went to the Blue Fin for dinner, a repeat after Friday night when Karen and Rich were here. Since it was Father’s Day and the restaurant was packed, we had a long wait to get a table but sat outdoors on their veranda, having a great time, and each had a drink while we waited for a table indoors.

We were finally seated indoors. It was hot and humid outdoors after the previous day’s rainstorm, and we all agreed that dining indoors would be more comfortable, and it certainly was.

My dinner was a shrimp salad. It was ok. I don’t like curly lettuce like this.

Back at the house by 8:30 pm, we served dessert, and again, the four of us lounged in the living room, telling endless stories of our travels, including some outrageous experiences that are unavoidable during long travels. It was interesting to hear their similar ups and downs, knowing we weren’t alone in the challenges one meets traveling long term.

By 11:30, I started fading and headed to bed, and Tom joined me about an hour later while the three of them continued the lively conversation. I wished I could have stayed up longer. As I write here at almost 10:00 am, Lea Ann and Chuck are still sleeping. As soon as they awaken, we’ll make breakfast.

Lea Ann and Chuck both had the grouper topped with crab and a white sauce.

This afternoon, they’ll be back on the road to return to their home in Dunedin, which is a two-hour drive from here. Once again, we’ve had a fantastic time with friends. In the past 24 hours, I heard from my dear friend Lisa whom we haven’t seen since 2017. On Friday, she and her friend Vicki are heading here for a visit.

Lisa and I have been friends for about 35 years, meeting in the late 1980s. Over the years, we, too, have stayed in touch, and it will be wonderful to see her again and meet her friend Vicki.

We haven’t had much of an opportunity to get together with all of the readers who contacted us. We apologize for this. We assumed we’d have plenty of time to do so, but time has slipped away as it often does. In only 39 days, we’ll be on our way to Scotland. How wonderful that we’re so enjoying our time here and yet, have so much awaiting us in the future.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 19, 2013:

My bathroom in the 300-year-old stone house in Boveglio, Italy, where we stayed for three months. Tom took the smaller bathroom in our bedroom. There’s no tub, and the shower is small, but it serves its purpose. For more photos, please click here.

Happy Father’s Day to Tom, our sons, family members and friends…

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Today, Father’s Day is celebrated around the world in many countries. I wish I could have made this day special for Tom, but we decided not to fuss over our birthdays and holidays long ago. We don’t have room in our bags for gifts, and spending money on cards and decorations makes no sense.

Usually, I make a special meal and dessert for Father’s Day, but today, our friends Lea Ann and Chuck are arriving at 3:00 pm, and a few hours later, we’ll be heading out for dinner to one of the town squares. Since Lea Ann is a pescatarian, returning to the Blue Fin in Brownwood Paddock Square makes sense; where we dined with Karen and Rich on Friday night and enjoyed an excellent dinner.

What is a pescatarian (for those who don’t know), it is the following:

“The pescatarian diet is a vegetarian diet that includes fish or other aquatic animals. The word “pesce” means fish in Italian, so those that emphasize fish in their plant-based diets have come to be called by this term. Sometimes these healthy eaters are also called pes-co-vegetarians or pescetarians.”

Pescatarians eat the following:

Pescatarians Do Eat

  • Whole grains and grain products
  • Legumes and their products, including beans, lentils, tofu, and hummus
  • Nuts and nut butter, peanuts, and seeds
  • Seeds, including hemp, chia, and flaxseeds
  • Dairy, including yogurt, milk, and cheese
  • Fruits
  • Vegetables
  • Fish and shellfish
  • Eggs

Nowadays, it is essential to ask what type of diet works for guests coming for a meal. They’ll have dessert with us tonight when we return from the restaurant and breakfast in the morning. Depending on when they’d like to go out, I may make a cheese, vegetable, chip, and dip platter at the last minute. I have plenty of items that will suit Lea Ann’s way of eating.

Tom, in the archway at the 300 year old stone house we rented in 2013. See the post here.

They, too, have been traveling the world extensively over the past few years, and although they have a home in Florida, they are frequently on the move. We met them on a cruise in 2017 and have stayed in touch since then. Early on, they picked our brains for world travel tips.

In no time at all, they had it all figured out. It’s been fun to see their countless excellent posts and photos on Facebook and their website, found here. They’ll sail on a world cruise from December 2023 to September 2024. It will be fun to follow along with them. What an adventure this will be for them!

We’ve often thought about doing a world cruise for many months (in their case, nine months), but both of us feel that for us, such a long cruise will detract from the enjoyment of shorter cruises which still are a novelty to us. Being on a ship for so long doesn’t appeal to us, but someday I may eat my words.

Many of these world cruises sail to many locations where we already sailed, so there would be a lot of redundancy. It will be fun to hear Lea Ann and Chuck’s feedback when it’s over, which I am sure we will.

This morning we walked, had a lovely breakfast of mushroom, cheese, and onion omelet with bacon, and laundered our bedding. Yesterday, we did the guest room bedding and cleaned the bathroom, and everything is ready for our next round of guests.

Since we don’t have a house cleaner more than once a month, each morning after breakfast, I clean the kitchen. The only issue I have with doing so is the front of the refrigerator which is stainless steel, and every little smudge or fingerprint shows. I can’t stand for it to look dirty, and cleaning it without streaks is a real challenge.

The best solution I’ve found so far is using a stone and steel cleaner the owner has available here and spraying only a tiny amount, and then wiping gently with paper towels applying only a small amount of pressure. If I rub too hard, it streaks. Go figure. Please let me know if any of our readers know of a better solution. We’ve never experienced this issue.

That’s it for today, folks. To all the dads, have a special day with your loved ones.

Be well.

Photos from ten years ago today, June 18, 2013:

This is the 300 year old stone house we rented in Boveglio, Italy, for three months beginning on this date ten years ago. For more photos, please click here.

Fantastic time with Karen and Rich…

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Last night, Tom enjoyed his fish and chips at Blue Fin Restaurant at Brownwood Paddock Square. I had tuna steak, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus.

Last night was probably our best meal since we arrived in The Villages. We’d eaten at the Blue Fin Restaurant with friends Carol and Mark when they visited about a month ago, and Tom and I hadn’t tried it again since. It was good that time but last night, it was even better.

The Villages are not known for having the best restaurants in Florida, perhaps due to the slightly lower prices than in other parts of the state. With 90% of the population over 60 years old and many on fixed incomes, a restaurant wouldn’t survive in this area at higher prices.

Many of the establishments are chain restaurants, which we weren’t familiar with since most are in the southern part of the US. After spending so much time outside the US this past almost 11 years, we are unfamiliar with many businesses, shops, and restaurants.

Karen had grilled trout, Brussels sprouts, and mashed potatoes.

It was wonderful to be with Karen and Rich again, for the second time since we arrived here almost seven weeks ago. Gosh, how time flies. The four of us are working on deciding on dates for us to stay with them for a few nights at their new home sometime in July.

Since we don’t have a car, they’ve offered to come to pick us up after they visit Karen’s mom Donna, who we visited a few weeks. Ago, Donna lives in Leesburg, only a 15-minute drive from us. Karen explained she’d be happy to pick us up when she leaves her mom’s after an overnight stay and bring us back a few days later.

We hesitated to let them do all the driving. It’s a two-hour drive each way. But, after being with them this past day and evening, we’ve decided we’d love to accept their generous offer. We’d love to be with them again and see their new home.

Karen and I have been friends for almost 20 years and have always been very close. The more time we can spend together, the better. And Tom and Rich have become good friends. Last night, after we returned from dinner, the “boys” sat on the lanai while Karen and I had much treasured “girl talk” in the living room.

Rich had fried calamari, sea bass, and Brussels sprouts.

Later, everyone had the apple crisp I’d made (not me) topped with ice and whipping cream. We all stayed up until after 1:00 am, which was late for us. Somehow, we all managed to get enough sleep. I didn’t doze off until 2:00 am and awoke at 4:00 am but returned to sleep, awakening around 8:00 am. I stayed in bed, playing with my phone, until Tom finally awoke at 9:45.

We bolted out of bed, and I showered dressed and rushed to the kitchen to make breakfast for our guests. After breakfast and a short chat, they needed to head out to see Donna, who was looking forward to their arrival. Once they left, we did a load of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, and did a little planning for tonight’s dinner.

We won’t go out tonight since our next guests, Lea Ann and Chuck, who arrive tomorrow, and we’ll all be heading out to dinner tomorrow night. It’s a fun and busy weekend.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 17, 2013:

It was fun seeing the canals in Venice. For more photos, please click here.

Remembering Marloth Park’s treasures…Stunning photos posted by locals…Upcoming busy weekend with houseguests….

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Photo by Hanlie de Wit. Bushbabies were checking out the action.

Every morning, before beginning the post, I check out Marloth Park’s Sighting Page on Facebook for any new wildlife sightings, not so much to post them but to see what’s happening in our absence. Today, June 15, is the date we’ll return in 2024, twelve months from today.

It’s not that I wish the time to pass quickly while we’re away. We’re enjoying our time in Florida and will surely enjoy the three upcoming cruises. But, no doubt, I think about it often and miss our human and animal friends in the bush. Life is easier here, and the heat, humidity, insects, and other annoyances in the bush.

But, when we are there, all of that is incidental, and we find ways to stay comfortable and adapt to the surroundings since the benefits and joys are many. The weather here in Florida is as hot and humid as in South Africa. The dew point has been higher here many days than we’d ever experienced in Marloth Park in the summer months. The difference here is the whole-house aircon that stays on 24/7, keeping us cool and comfortable.

Photo by Meryl Venter. Lions in our old neighborhood.

It’s impossible to have a whole-house aircon in the bush with all the load-shedding issues and the unaffordable cost of electricity. It’s just not affordable for homeowners providing holiday homes with reasonably priced holiday rentals. Plus, it’s not practical with doors open and no bug screens.

When I checked Facebook this morning, I was thrilled to find the three new photos we posted today, giving credit to the photographers for such fine and unique shots. Taking pictures in The Villages is challenging. The houses are somewhat cookie-cutter from the exterior.

Next week, we plan to look at some houses for sale and prepare a post sharing what we’ve found. No, we aren’t looking for ourselves, but we thought sharing photos and pricing with our readers in a post would be fun. We’ve looked at some houses for sale at different points during our years-long travel journey since it’s interesting to both of us.

Photo by Meryl Venter. A leopard in Marloth Park, one of several.

On another note, we have a busy weekend coming up with two visits from separate couples, friends Karen and Rich on Friday and friends Lea Ann and Chuck on Sunday. No sooner than one couple leaves, we’ll hurry and wash the sheets and remake the guest room bed and clean the bathroom for the next visit.

In both cases, for these one-night stays, we plan to dine out for dinner to show our guests the fun squares we’ve visited in the past. We’ll most likely go to Spanish Springs Town Square and Sumter Landing on each of the two nights and have breakfast here in the mornings.

Soon our Kroger grocery store online order will arrive. We’ve included bread, fruit, and juice for our guests (which we don’t eat), along with eggs and bacon, sufficient for both mornings. Seeing our friends again and enjoying quality time together in this lovely place will be fun.

As for today, we have excellent leftovers from ordering Chinese food last night that was enough for two nights. We’re really enjoying the delicious food from Sunrise Asian Restaurant. It’s too far to pick up the food driving in the golf cart, so we’re taking advantage of the Grubhub free delivery we receive by being Amazon Prime members.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 15, 2013:

No photos were posted on this date, ten years ago. For the story posted, please click here.

Part 2…Ten year ago as we headed to Izmir, Turkey to see the ancient city of Ephasus…Oh, the crowd!

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We tried not to miss a photo op at the ruins. See the post here.

The main reason we dislike visiting popular tourist sites is the crowds. It is uncomfortable to squeeze through amongst the people and challenging to take photos when everyone is crowded around for the best possible shots.

A well-preserved work of art.

No offense intended to other tourists. This is just us. We’ve enjoyed the freedom of doing exactly what we want to do over the past almost 11 years. Being in crowds is not one of them. However, over the years, we’ve visited many venues which wouldn’t have been safe for us to visit on our own, depending on the country and circumstances.

This piece was one of the most appealing, having survived for centuries.

When our ship was docked in Turkey, we received the following letter from the ship’s captain warning all passengers of demonstrations in various cities in Turkey occurring at the time of our arrival. Here is the letter from this post:

This letter was posted here on our bed the previous night that we returned from dinner.

Under these circumstances, we had no choice but to book the tour through the cruise line, resulting in traveling on a bus with 40 to 60 passengers. As it turned out, the bus stopped running in the middle of the desert, and we had to wait until someone came with another bus. Weird. We remember it well.

Decorative pillars and structures.

We also recall how after the tour of Ephesus, the bus took us to a leather factory/store; on the way back to the city, where we were unloaded and entered the building, herded like cattle, to a showroom where we had no choice but to watch a runway fashion show.

Good grief! We were all upset about being “forced” to attend the fashion show and then, afterward, herded, once again, through the actual store where the items we’d seen on the runway were on racks for sale. None of us purchased a thing. Besides, the pricing was no bargain.

Such an ornate design.

We certainly appreciate and understand the need for vendors to make a living selling their wares. But, to include such an event where we were a captive audience was asking too much, especially after we paid dearly for the tour.  After that, we asked the cruise line staff if any such events were included. Knowing ahead of time would allow passengers to decide if they want to participate in touring a venue on their own.

It was hard to believe how many people were there.

Undoubtedly, we were glad we had an opportunity to see Ephesus with many good photos, some of which are shown here today. For the balance of the photos, please click the ten-year-ago post here. This will be the last post about Ephesus.

Yes, these are toilets without much privacy!

Tomorrow, we’ll return with a new and highly relevant story with photos of a major change in Tom’s life that ultimately impacts me. Please check back to read that story.

As for tonight, we are going to dinner at the Mallory Country Club for dinner with cruise friends Nancy and Bill, whom we haven’t seen since our last cruise in April 2022. We went to dinner with them on the night before we tested positive for Omicron (and continued to suffer for months from the illness) on the second to last night on the cruise. We’re curious to ask them if they got Covid from us after sitting with us across the table that night.

Lots of tourists.

We will also take photos tonight of our friends and the food. I feel bad that we didn’t take photos of Tracy and Nancy this past week when we met them for dinner at City Fire in Brownwood Paddock Square on Wednesday evening.

The view of the Great Theatre.

Tonight, we’ll drive the golf cart to meet them at their home, 23 minutes from here, and then follow them to the nearby country club for dinner. This way, we can return to our house to watch game five of the Stanley Cup (hockey) playoffs, which starts at 8:00 pm. Our team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights (three wins), plays the Florida Panthers (one win).

Once a team wins four games, the championship is over. and they receive the enormous silver trophy.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 13, 2013:

The Ephesus crowd in Izmir, Turkey, was so dense at times that it was hard to walk. For more photos, please click here.

Part 1…Ten year ago as we headed to Izmir, Turkey to see the ancient city of Ephasus…

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Here we are, in front of more historic ruins, Ephesus, as shown in the artist’s rendition below. This photo is from our post on June 13, 2013.
Artist rendition of Ephesus. From this site.

Gosh, it’s hard to believe it was ten years ago that we sailed to Izmir, Turkey, for a tour of the ancient city of Ephesus, as described here at this site:

“Ephesus, Greek Ephesos, the most important Greek city in Ionian Asia Minor, the ruins of which lie near the modern village of Selƈuk in western Turkey.

In Roman times it was situated on the northern slopes of the hills Coressus and Pion and south of the Cayster (Küçükmenderes) River, the silt from which has since formed a fertile plain but has caused the coastline to move ever farther west. The Temple of Artemis, or Diana, to which Ephesus owed much of its fame and which seems to mark the site of the classical Greek city, was probably on the seaboard when it was founded (about 600 BCE), one mile east by northeast of Pion (modern Panayir Daǧ). In Roman times a sea channel was maintained with difficulty to a harbor well west of Pion. By late Byzantine times, this channel had become useless, and the coast by the mid-20th century was three miles farther west. Ephesus commanded the west end of one great trade route into Asia, along the Cayster Valley, and had easy access to the other two, along the Hermus (Gediz) and the Maeander (Büyükmenderes) rivers.

Take a walk through the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus, once a foremost centre of the arts, science, and religion
The well-done drawing illustrates the magnitude of Ephesus.

History

Ephesus enters history in the mid-7th century BCE when it was attacked by the Cimmerians. Unlike its neighbor, Magnesia, it survived the attacks. For part of the early 6th century, the city was under tyrants. Though allied by marriage to the kings of Lydia, its people could not hold back the Lydian Croesus, who asserted a general suzerainty over the city. He did, however, present many columns and some golden cows for a new and splendid rebuilding of the Artemiseum (Temple of Artemis). According to Strabo, the Ephesians began to live in the plain, and to this period, too, should be allotted the redrafting of the laws, said to have been the work of an Athenian, Aristarchus. Ephesus soon submitted to Cyrus of Persia. Early in the Ionian revolt (499–493 BCE) against the Persians, Ephesus served as a base for an Ionian attack on Sardis, but it is not mentioned again until 494 when the Ephesians massacred the Chiot survivors of the Battle of Lade. The massacre may have occurred because Ephesus was a commercial rival of the chief rebels, Chios and Miletus. Ephesus maintained friendly relations with Persia for about 50 years: in 478, Xerxes, returning from his failure in Greece, honored Artemis of Ephesus, although he sacked other Ionian shrines and left his children for safety in Ephesus, and Themistocles landed there in the 460s on his flight to Persia. But after 454, Ephesus appears as a regular tributary of Athens. Great Ephesians up to this time had been Callinus, the earliest Greek elegist (mid-7th century BCE), the satirist Hipponax, and the famous philosopher Heracleitus, one of the Basilids.

Ephesus shared in a general revolt of 412 BCE against Athens, siding with Sparta in the Second Peloponnesian War, and remained an effective ally of Sparta down to the end of the war. Threatened by Persia after 403, Ephesus served in 396 as the headquarters of King Agesilaus of Sparta. In 394, the Ephesians deserted to Conon’s anti-Spartan maritime league, but by 387, the city was again in Spartan hands and was handed by Antalcidas to Persia. There followed the pro-Persian tyranny of Syrphax and his family, who were stoned to death in 333 on Alexander the Great’s taking the city. After 50 years of fluctuating fortune, Ephesus was conquered by the Macedonian general Lysimachus and resettled around Coressus and Pion (286–281 BCE). Lysimachus introduced colonists from Lebedus and Colophon and renamed the city after his wife, Arsinoo—a name soon dropped. This was the beginning of Ephesus’s Hellenistic prosperity. It became conspicuous for the abundance of its coinage.

After the defeat of Antiochus the Great, king of Syria, by the Romans in 189 BCE, Ephesus was handed over by the conquerors to the king of Pergamum. Attalus III of Pergamum bequeathed Ephesus with the rest of his possessions to the Roman people (133 BCE). Thenceforth, Ephesus remained subject to Rome, except for a brief time beginning in 88 BCE, when, at the instigation of Mithridates the Great of Pontus, the cities of Asia Minor revolted and killed their Roman residents. The Ephesians even killed those Romans who had fled for refuge to the Artemiseum, notwithstanding which they returned in 86 BCE to their former masters. Their claim, preserved on an extant inscription that in admitting Mithradates, they had merely yielded to superior force was rudely brushed aside by Sulla, who inflicted a very heavy fine. Although it twice chose the losing side in the Roman civil wars and although it was stoutly opposed by Pergamum and Smyrna, Ephesus became, under Augustus, the first city of the Roman province of Asia. The geographer Strabo wrote of its importance as a commercial center in the 1st century BCE. The triumphal arch of 3 BCE and the aqueduct of 4–14 CE initiated that long series of public buildings, ornamental and useful, that make Ephesus the most-impressive example in Greek lands of a city of imperial times.”

The remainder of this story will be posted tomorrow with more photos.

By the way, yesterday afternoon, it was fun getting together on a video chat with our readers, Mindy and Howard, experienced travelers who are considering a gentle foray into long-term world travel. They had many questions for us, which we were happy to answer. We send them our love and best wishes for their future travels.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 12, 2013:

Last evening, our ship, the Norwegian Spirit, pulled away from the pier in Istanbul, Turkey. For more photos, please click here.

Rained out…Photos of Istanbul…Ten years ago…

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Note: Due to some unknown WiFi issue today, I cannot properly format captions and spacing in the text. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Last night, we’d planned to go to dinner at Havana Country Club, but when it was raining with lightning and high winds, we realized it wouldn’t be safe to make the 15-minute golf cart ride in such awful conditions. Instead, we decided to order takeaway from the Chinese restaurant we love, Sunrise Asian.

Yesterday, I received a  coupon as an Amazon Prime member for free delivery from Grubhub for the next 12 months. What a deal! I’d signed up for the coupon but didn’t realize we’d be using it so soon. After placing the order, as shown below:

Roast Pork Fried Rice Quart $8.70+

Sweet and Sour Pork Quart $10.85+

Shrimp Egg Foo Young Omelet with shellfish. $13.95+

Steamed Shrimp with Mixed Vegetables $16.95

Total cost: $64.03

This seemed expensive for getting takeaway, but we’d ordered enough to last two nights. My steamed dish was small, so I ate all the prawns and left half of the vegetables. This morning I cooked eight jumbo prawns that I had in the freezer and added them to the leftover vegetables to have plenty of that dish with the other half of the egg foo young (I don’t use the sauce). Tom eats pork fried rice and sweet and sour pork.
 Today is easy when I only have to wash and dry the bedding. Tom always helps re-making the bed. We didn’t walk this morning since Tom likes to watch CBS “Sunday Morning,” it was sweltering outside after the show ended. The temperature is only about 88F, but the dew point is 80, higher than we’d experienced in South Africa, and the pollen count is high today.
Yes, the Covid headache returned after I stopped taking that drug that caused me to have Afib, only days before we left South Africa and ended up in hospital. After another incident on the plane, lasting six hours of sheer terror on the 17-hour flight, I went on a rampage trying to figure out what caused the Afib.
What a view of Istanbul! For more photos, please click here.

Passport renewal issue!!!..Yikes!!!…Photos from ten years ago today…Mykonos, Greece…

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This is Mykonos! Oh, my, how beautiful!
Although we were out last night at Brownwood Paddock Square, we don’t have any new photos to share. We’d already posted photos of this fun location, although we looked for photo ops throughout the evening. Thus, we’re sharing photos from our visit to the island of Mykonos, Greece, ten years ago today. We will never forget this special day as we walked for hours through the fascinating island of stark white and blue buildings, friendly people, and local charm. It couldn’t have been more exciting and fun.
Mykonos, as we walked along the shoreline.

We enjoyed being with a lovely couple we met from Quebec, Canada, Gerry, and Nicole, both with thick French accents, and they also spoke English quite well. We’d met them on the ship and spent much time with them, engaging in fun activities. It’s always special to meet new people on cruises, some of whom we’ve stayed in touch with over the years.

As for today’s headline, a few days ago, it received an email from the U.S. State Department about our renewal passport application that read as follows:

(Please excuse the line spacing. Since I copied and pasted this, I was unable to format it properly).

“Dear Ms. Lyman:
Thank you for your recent passport application. To continue processing your request, please provide the
The following information: Please submit your valid passport book. Our records indicate that you applied for a passport book in 2020. If you do not have that passport book and/or passport card in your possession, please complete, in detail, the
enclosed Form DS-64, Statement Regarding Lost or Stolen Passport, and mail the signed form to the address on this
letter. It is the policy of Passport Services to return any expired passport book and/or passport card to the
customer unless it is damaged or mutilated. To assist with processing your application, we must receive the requested information within ninety (90) days of the date shown in this letter. Please be advised that you may receive this information via email and a postal letter. Please respond to one request only. If the information is not received or is insufficient to establish your entitlement to a U.S. passport, your application may be denied, and your citizenship evidence will be returned. By law, the passport execution and application fees are non-refundable. For general passport information or to check the status of your passport application, please visit us online at travel.state.gov.

PLEASE RETURN A COPY OF THIS LETTER, ALONG WITH ALL REQUESTED INFORMATION, TO
THE ADDRESS LISTED ABOVE INCLUDES THE +4 ZIP CODE.”

The narrow walkways through the shops and houses were enchanting at every turn.

Of course, as I breezed through this text, I panicked a little and then slowed down and read it more thoroughly before I said anything to Tom.

Upon applying for the passport renewal, we called CIBT, the company we’re using, and explained that:

a. Our ten-year passports expired in 2022.

b. Our four-year second passports were going to expire in January 2024.

Gerry, Nicole, our Canadian French-speaking new friends, and Tom outside this quaint little church.

Since we began traveling in 2012, we’ve had three passports so far:

  1. Our first 10-year passport – expired
  2. A second 2-year passport – expired
  3. A third 4-year year passport – expires in January 2024

As we’ve explained in the past, we got second passports to enable us to mail in one of the passports when applying for visas (when required) and still have a valid passport in our possession which should always be the case. One should never be in a foreign country without a valid passport in their possession.

When we initially spoke to the online rep, we asked which passport we should mail to them; the expired ten-year or the active four-year. We were each applying for a 10-year renewal. They instructed us to send in the expired ten-year passports, which we did, which our multiple required documents.

We can’t wait to buy fresh produce in Tuscany in one week as we prepare to cook for ourselves! Mykonos didn’t disappoint.

Later, we were assigned a new rep, Arturo, and he assumed we had everything needed to apply for the renewal. This was incorrect. We should have sent in our active four-year passports with the application documents. I called Arturo immediately, and he apologized for the misunderstanding.

He sent me an email with a new FedEx paid label, which we needed to get to the FedEx store as soon as possible and mail him the four-year passport we did on Friday morning. He will receive them on Monday and will continue with the application process, assuring us we shouldn’t worry.

We’ll wait and see when we’ll get the new passports within a few weeks. We are glad we started this process so much earlier than our June 20 appointment. We feel confident, in any case, we’ll have the passports in plenty of time for our departure on July 28.

Tonight we’re going to the Havana Country Club for dinner. It looks like a great place to go on a Saturday night, and the menu looks good for both of us. Tomorrow, we’ll share photos.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 10, 2013:

An occasional stop was relaxing after the steep walk up the hilly roads. For more photos, please click here.

Could a full-time resident in The Villages function with only a golf cart to save on expenses?…

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This morning’s purchase of fuel for the golf cart that came with our rental. We had topped off the gas tank a week ago and drove around quite a bit this week.

We’ve been in The Villages long enough now that we have a relatively clear perspective of some of the living costs in this retirement community. No, those only receiving basic social security without having sold a home with sufficient funds to purchase another home here make The Villages a financial impossibility.

But, if one has sold a home and uses the bulk of those proceeds to purchase their home in The Villages (average sale price of $350,000), the result may avoid the necessity of a mortgage, making living here more affordable. I found this excellent website listing the estimate of some of the various expenses required to live here.

This website lists each possible additional expense over and above property taxes, amenity fees, homeowner’s insurance, utilities, and maintenance fees.

But, for today’s purposes, since the website so clearly defines potential expenses, we’re delving into transportation expenses which can be high if one has a car payment, car insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs. Then, most residents in The Villages own a golf cart that includes the purchase price, insurance, fuel, and maintenance.

As we were leaving Colony Plaza this morning after a few errands and breakfast at Bob Evans. It was a pleasant trip out and about.

The combined transportation expenses can total $1000 a month or more, which also could prevent fixed-income seniors from living here. We have fun playing around with these numbers, although we do not intend to reside here now or soon permanently.

But, we promised our readers, we’d do our best to report our perspectives on some of the features of living here, as far as we can determine, in this short period we are here, a mere three months. Of course, longer-term residents would be more qualified to report these expenses after living here for years, not months.

Our only true perspective has been over transportation after we’ve been “tooling around” in a golf cart for the past almost six weeks. We ask ourselves, “If a person/couple lived here could they get by with just a golf cart to keep expenses down and use an Uber or other service for longer trips outside The Villages?”

Driving past one of many golf courses in The Villages as described here:”There are 12 immaculately kept championship golf courses, 38 executive courses, and four practice facilities in The Villages. Lifetime country club memberships to the championship courses are included for Village residents, and walking the executive courses is free!”

Yes, it is possible, with some limitations. Already we experience the disappointment of it not making sense for us to travel, let’s say, to Spanish Springs Town Square. It’s a 40-minute golf cart ride each way which, for most people, is too far. Sure, at some point, we’ll probably attempt it. Instead, we’re reserving visits to Spanish Springs for times when we have houseguests with a car and can drive there in their car.

However, trips to Brownwood Paddock Square are quick and easy, and we can drive there in about 12 minutes in the golf cart. Tonight, we’ll be heading there again for the second time this week. Thus, residents could easily shop, dine out, play golf and participate in countless activities using only a golf cart.

The cost of a used golf cart can be as low as $2000 or as high as $20,000, depending on how they are customized to suit the purchaser’s desires. Some companies here provide yearly maintenance and service fees for golf carts, done right in one’s driveway. Of course, there are added costs for insurance and fuel for golf carts.

There are countless lakes and ponds on the golf courses in The Villages.

We took today’s main photo this morning at the Walmart fuel station in Colony Plaza, illustrating the low cost of running a golf cart. In the past week, after several trips out, we used less than a gallon of gas for $2.23. That amazed us. Imagine how much one could save only by driving a golf cart or driving it most of the time.

However, if we lived here, we’d pay cash for an older car in excellent condition and only use it for longer trips for needs outside of The Villages and for trips to such places as Spanish Springs, which can be reached by car in 22 minutes, (8½ miles). This is certainly no more time than it takes most people to go to dinner.

The website listed here is undoubtedly more detailed on possible expenses in The Villages, providing what appears to be a clear perspective based on long-term experience, as opposed to our little glimpse during these past few weeks.

Most roads accessible by golf carts have a clearly defined lane. However, there are a few main roads that allow golf carts when there isn’t a specific lane designated for golf carts.

Thank you for going along with us on this part of our journey. Time is moving quickly, and we’ll be on our way before we know it.

We’ll share a glitch we encountered in the passport renewal process tomorrow. For now, we’re signing off.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 9, 2013:

No photos were posted on this day as the ship made its way to Mykonos, Greece, one of our favorite ports of call. For the text on that date, please click here.

Yesterday’s delightful get-together with long term readers…

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Tom’s Chicken Pot Pie, which he ordered at City Fire. He’d had this on another occasion, and he liked it. It was covered with dough but included a piece of a baguette—lots of bread.

I regret not taking photos of us with Tracy and Nancy when we got together at City Fire American Oven & Bar late yesterday afternoon. We had such a great time together that the thought of taking photos of the four of us slipped away. I didn’t realize it until after we were back at the house.

It should have entered my mind when I was attempting to take photos of our food, two of which were blurry and I later deleted. Thus, the only photos I have today are Tracy’s flatbread and Tom’s chicken pot pie. Nancy ate a bun-less cheeseburger while I had a nutty salad with overcooked chicken breast. I won’t be ordering that again.

This was Tracy’s flatbread.

No words can express how delightful our few hours with Tracy and Nancy were. As often is the case with long-term readers, they knew everything about us, and it was fun to hear about this mother (Nancy) and adult daughter (Tracy) team who both live in The Villages. Not only were they very attentive and loving to one another, but they were also with us, and we felt like we’d known them for a very long time. We’ll never forget the precious time with the two of them.

Fortunately, Tom had taken the two photos of the signs he spotted outside the restaurant with historical information about Brownwood that is fun to read. As we know, Tom doesn’t take the best photos, but I decided to use the two he took today, albeit lopsided. (There are plenty of incidences where I take awful photos, too).

Their food isn’t that great, although none of the food at restaurants we’ve tried in The Villages has been excellent, except for the Chinese takeaway we ordered when we first arrived. We’ll certainly do that again some evening. We’re cooking our meals five nights a week and eating out on Friday and Saturday nights, as we did in South Africa. It’s a hard habit to break, but we enjoy getting out.

Tom took these two photos outside the restaurant.

We’re staying in tonight and having burgers on the grill (no buns), topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, tomato, and onion. Soon, I’ll make our favorite homemade low-carb ketchup. I like to wrap my burger with all the fixings in lettuce leaves and hold it in my hand, so it feels like eating a regular burger. Tom eats his burger with a fork and knife.

We’re excited to watch game three of the Stanley Cup (hockey) finals on TV at 8:00 pm with the Florida Panthers and the Las Vegas Golden Knights. As residents of Nevada, we are rooting for the LV Golden Knights, who won the first two games. We’ll see how it goes tonight and again on Saturday. If they win the next two games, they’ll take the trophy. That’s exciting.

This morning we walked, but unfortunately, I am not finding it any easier each day. My legs hurt when I walk any distance, even our relatively short 15-minute walk around the block. I’d hoped I’d see some improvement by now, but there is none. I suppose I need to face the fact that my legs were permanently damaged when they became seriously infected after the heart surgery; veins were harvested from both legs from my ankles to about 14 inches above my knees.

Interesting tidbits about Brownwood.

I will be fine as long as I can walk on the upcoming ports of call visits on our upcoming cruises, including our cruise to the Galapagos. Surely, the tours provided by Celebrity Cruises will be guided, and we will be made aware of how rough the walks will be. We’re hoping I can manage it. Surely, as always, I’ll tough it out and do as much as I possibly can.

Today, I’ve been busy making dinner, doing laundry, and doing a little cleaning around the house. We both slept well last night, and we’re feeling chipper and upbeat, as we often do.

Have a great day and evening. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 8, 2013:

Views of the port in Naples, Italy. For more photos, please click here.