VOLCANO DAY

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I think I have the hang of getting the photos to publish. Three yesterday! When I complete the blog this morning, one more. The volcano photos!

This photo/pic thing is a constant education for me. I was unhappy that the pics were so small. Detail is important and did not show effectively. Yesterday, I clicked on a pic. Lo and bhold…..it enlarged! Clicked on it again. Got even bigger!

The message is that if you want a larger and clearer photo, merely click once for larger and twice for largest.

Today the volcano! It was hell for me that day. I realized my age. I also became aware that I was definitely out of shape. You will recall I could not complete the climb to the top of the volcano.

There are 10 volcano photos.

The volcano sits out in the bay off Santorini. The first photo is off the volcano. It was taken from the walkway on Santorini. The volcano is the black island in the distance.

The next pic is of me walking up the volcano. There were about sixty of us. Every one made it but me. I started at the head of the pack. Soon I was at the end. Then I was with the stragglers. Finally, I was the last straggler. This photo is of me at a time that I was third from the rear. Only two ladies behind me. The stress of the climb was upon me.

Fifteen minutes later, I was dead last! No one any where near me. All way ahead. Photo 3. I suggest you click once and then again a second time. I would like you to experience the line of people ahead of me and how far behind I was.

Photo 4 is where I said…..NO MORE! I could go no further. I gave up. Happily.

I stopped several times on the way up. To rest and drink some water. such is photo 5.

Photo 6 is of me walking down the volcano all alone. I was not ashamed!

A boat took me to the volcano and then took me away from it. Photo 7 is of me sitting on the boat as it left the volcano. I was dead! I did not care what happened to me! If I did die, dump me overboard was my thought.

On the return trip, the boat stopped at the island of Thirassis. A small nnothing. Two restaurants and a gift shop. The gift shop was operated by a tall bearded Greek dressed in monk’s robes and a hat. Photo 8 is me sitting alone enjoying lunch.

Photo 9 is one of the best. Double click this one. View it at its largest. It is a pic of the reataurant owner grilling lunch. Note the stove. Look especially at the octopus he was grilling. Octopus was a dish served at every restauant. A tentacle was chopped off. Generally, 10 inches. About 2 inches in diameter. Grilled before and after. Rubbed with oil occasionally. Served thusly done. Tender and delicious! Sweet. No sauce required. Fish suvlaki is the other item being grilled.

The last photo is me dead on the bed when I returned. I had never been so tired!

Good night last night.

Started at Don’s Place. Chatted with Don, Herschel, and Frankie. All team mates. Discussed and analyzed our bocce team.

Then the Chart Room. A crowd. Emily bartending. Che and Captain Peter talking. Jean Thornton her usual lovely self. My Jasper friend Jack Kelly and his wife Sabina. Met a criminakl lawyer from long Island. Michael.

I chatted with Jack and Sabina a while. Then with Jean and Che. Che is a Congress of Vienna expert. Which means he is a Napoleon expert as well. We talked about Napoleon. I made mention of the bridges I observed in Northern Italy on my recent trip. Many were built by Napoleon. The northern Italians did not speak ill of Napoleon. They were proud of what he had done for them.

Decided I would walk Duval a while. A lot of people.

I stopped into Sloppy Joe’s. Planned on grabbing a sandwich. No room at the inn. Not a seat in the place.

Walked by Coyote Ugly. About 20 young guys at the bar. Two young ladies dancing and singing on the bar. The Bull was empty. I thought Yankee Jack might be playing. I ended up at Kelley’s. Enjoyed the wings!

Nothing was accomplished by the Merkel visit to Greece. Why then did Merkel even make the trip? The British press reports this morning that Merkel went to Greece to show the British she was not afraid to face the Greeks. It was show time. Her purpose was to insist face to face that Greece pay every penny owed. Plus interest and penalties.

Merkel has an election coming up. Her opponent has been attacking her regarding the Greece pay back problem. He claims Merkel has been too easy on Greece. Ergo, the trip. The Greeks still have to pay, suffer austerity. Merkel was in and out in six hours. Nothing accomplished to assist the Greeks.

No Internet show tomorrow. The Key West Lou Legal Hour will miss another weak. KONK Broadcasting owner Guy de Boer will be in Miami for heart surgery. Good luck, Guy!

Bocce tonight. Bocce tomorrow night. A make up game.

Enjoy your day!

TRIP PICS…..THE BEGINNING

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This is the day!

Trip pictures being published!

I have grouped the photos into 12 categories. From this point forward, a category a day will be provided. Today’s pics are of the Novara phase.

Novara was my first and last stops on the trip. I flew into Milan. A half hour drive away was Novara. Translated, Novara means new camp. Way back when, there was no Novara. The Roman legions camped there. For a long time. Ergo, the name Novara.

Remnants of the Roman stay can still be seen. The Romans constructed a stone wall around the camp. Portions of that wall remain today.

The City of Novara developed from what was once the Roman camp.

There is a Hemingway tie.

Novara and Milan are cities. Stresa is a town. They are located in the Province of Novara. Novara is both the name of the province and the city. Each community located relatively close to the other.

Hemingway was an ambulance driver during World War I. He was stationed in northern Italy. Received multiple shrapnel wounds to his legs. He was hospitalized in Milan. Fell in love with one of his nurses. Following his hospitalization, he went to the resort town of Stresa for a rest. Stresa is located on Lake Maggiore.

Hemingway years later wrote A Farewell To Arms. The background and characters for the book came from the time he spent in the Milan hospital, at Stresa, and involved Lake Maggiore.

The Novara photos are a set of six.

The first is a photo of the building I stayed in at the beginning and end of my trip. It is a medieval building. More than a 1,000 years old. The exterior has been reconstructed. I was in an apartment on the second floor. The center balcony is off the living room of the apartment. The gigantic wood doors are the entrance way to the building’s courtyard.

The next photo is the building’s internal entrance way into the courtyard. The entrance way has been redone also. Note the fine workmanship on the doors.

The next pic is my bedroom ceiling. Though the outside of the building has been updated, the interior remains as it was a 1,000 years ago. The apartments have cathedral ceilings. All rooms. Huge wide windows. The ceilings are hand painted.

The next photo is a ceiling one, also. Of the sitting room ceiling.

I made a Moroccon friend on the trip. Miriam. She is in the next photo on the far right. It was my 77th birthday. Miriam cooked for me and baked a cake. The picture is of me and her family.

The final photo is me and the cake.

Tomorrow Santorini.

I enjoyed a yesterday, also.

Spent most of the day finishing Bob Woodward’s The Price Of Politics. Excellent reading. Scared me. The novel clearly evidences the inepts governing us. From the President down. Without mentioning it, the book cries out for term limits. Lack of ability and serving self interests permeate the book.

Though not mentioned, the book cries out for term limits. I would do one 6 year term for a President, one 5 year term for a Senator, and one 3 year term for a Congressman. Get them in and get them out! Keep reelection out of the picutre.

Lisa did a Thanksgiving turkey dinner last night. Delicious! Robert and Ally a joy.

I come from the generation that is not mechanically inclined. Corey was trying to show me how to operate my cell phone camera to my blog. Simple to most of you. Not to me.

Those of you who watch my internet show on KONK Broadcasting and read my weekly column in KONK Life via the internet, be advised the sites have been renamed. Sorry. Not my doing.

To watch the friday internet show: www.konknet.com/tv/personalities.

To read the column via the internet: www.konknet.com/konk-life/contributors.

Remember to join me for Santorini tomorrow.

Enjoy your day!

WHAT A JOKE! I JUST WENT TO PUBLISH THE NOVARA PHOTOS. I LOST THEM! SLOAN WORKS WITH ME TOMORROW NIGHT. SHE WILL HOPEFULLY FIND THEM. I CANNOT. WHICH MEANS…..NO TRIP PICS TILL WEDNESDAY. I AM NOT EVEN GOING TO PLAY WITH SANTORINI TOMORROW. I WOULD PROBABLY LOSE THOSE ALSO.

PETER

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Tomorrow is the big day! I will start publishing the trip pictures! Finally!

Last night was strange. The best of the evening was the last part of it.

We start at the beginning, however.

I stopped by the Chart Room. It was late. About eight. No customers. Just me and JJ. Had one drink and passed the time away chatting with JJ.

My plan was to have dinner at Kelley’s. I desired wings. The rain changed my mind. It was pouring. I opted for the Wine Galley instead. For those of you who might not know, the Chart Room and Wine Galley are both part of the Pier House complex.

Larry Smith was playing. His audience included Rob and Lois from bocce night and Danville, Pennsylvania. Mary Deasy arrived a bit later and sat with them.

I ate at the bar and read the newspapers. Larry in my ear while my eyes scanned the news. It worked well.

Stayed a while. When I left, I had to pass the Chart Room to get to my car. Seated alone at the corner of the bar was Captain Peter.

The Captain is known as Captain Peter and Peter. I shall refer to him here as Peter.

I joined Peter. He was as glad to see me as I him. Everyone likes Peter. I cannot think of one person who does not. He is that type of person.

Peter was lamenting. He volunteered that in six days on September 12 he was going to be 70. It was bothering him. I laughed and said, “Hell, I’m 77! So what? Enjoy!”

We then got into a deep and profound discussion for about an hour. The type of discussion only men in their 70s can understand and appreciate. Peter seemed better at the end of our talk.

Let me share some Peter background with you. He is an unusual man.

Peter is a proud Brit. He was born in England. He came to the United States as a young man. Sometime back in the early 1960s, I suspect. He fought for his new country. He became a citizen of his new country.

Peter has traveled the world. Twice he sailed on a small boat alone around the world. A tough guy. His stories of fighting off pirates in the orient are dramatic.

Peter lives on his sail boat. I do not know if it is the same one that took him round world twice.

The sail boat he calls home is moored some two miles off Key West in the Gulf. A pretty far and pretty gutsy place to live. All alone out there. No boat neighbors. No land to be seen.

Peter has a small motorized rubber dinghy that he uses to get back and forth. Some evenings Peter lingers too long and it is dark when he leaves. Some nights the water is rough. Peter generally can handle conditions. But…..there are nights when Peter may have had a bit too much to drink. He putt putts out to his sail boat and cannot find it in the dark. There have been evenings when it has taken him two hours to find his sail boat. One night, he slipped going from the dinghy to the boat. It took him two hours again before he was able to get out of the water and into the sail boat.

With age comes wisdom. Peter recently bought a used van. On the nights he thinks it not safe to make the trip to the boat, he sleeps in the back of the van.

Peter looks the part of a British lord. Tall and thin. White hair surrounds his bald top. He has a well clipped white moustache. He speaks with a soft unquestionable British accent.

If you run into Peter between now the the 12th, wish him a Happy Birthday!

Read an interesting tidbit in yesterday’s Key West Citizen. It was part of an interesting op-ed by the owners of Schooner Wharf. Their rent is $46,811.86 a month. Wow! However consistent with commercial Key West rents. I suspect the new Coyote Ugly on Duval has to be paying $35,000 a month. Whether Schooner Wharf or Coyote Ugly, these places have to sell a hell of a lot of booze to survive!

Duval Street has received national recognition. It has been listed as one of the 10 Best Streets of 2012. The designation claims Duval is the soul of Key West. It is.

Fantasy Fest around the corner. Starts with Goombay on Octobedr 19 and runs through October 28. Fun time!

Enjoy your Sunday!

A GRAND EVENING

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MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: My European trip photos will start posting Monday! Finally! Thank you for your indulgence.

The pics will be spread over 12 days. Each grouping will involve a particular activity or place.

The photos are not as good as I would wish them to be. Took all of them with a couple of years old cell phone. Next time, I will do it better. A camera. In addition, I would post the pics daily rather than save them to the end.

Nevertheless, you will enjoy!

Last night was one of the most pleasant I have spent in quite a while. My evenings are always good. Some however are better than others. Last night was one of them.

I attribute the quality of the evenining to the people I ran into. All a pleasure.

I started at the Chart Room. Jean Thornton was back. Seated at the bar. Next to her, Stephanie Kaple.

Jean is known as Key West’s Golden Girl. She found gold and jewelry on a Mel Fisher dive years ago. Changed her life.

Stephanie is Key West’s Island Shoe Girl. She wears the most expensive high heel shoes. The higher the better. She may not eat well, have extra money to spend, but she does have shoes! Stephanie also writes a blog every one should read. Whatever the topic, she ties it into women’s shoes. Many of her writings involve social issues. You can find the blog under IslandShoeGirl.com.

I saw two familiar faces at the end of the bar. Dan and Nancy. We had met before on one of their previous trips to Key West. Dan is from Toronto and works for Dow Chemical. Nancy is a nurse from Detroit. She is a colonoscopy expert.

Love Nancy! She reads my blog every day! Dan is less diligent. An occasional reader. Nice people. I spent a bit of time with them chatting. They are here for at least annother week. I look forward to running into them again.

While I was talking with Dan and Nancy, Jean came over and invited me to join Stephanie and her for dinner at Hot Tin Roof. Jean specified she was paying. I could not say no.

I was a lucky man. Two ladies to dine with. Two lovely intelligent ladies.

We sat at the bar at Hot Tin Roof. Talked a very long time before ordering. One drink too many too long.

While I was sitting there, a couple stopped by. They had been looking for me at the Chart Room. Emily sent them over to Hot Tin Roof.

I am a Manhattan College graduate. A few miles up the road is Cudjoe Key. A fellow Manhattan graduate lives there. He reads this blog religiously and occasionally comments. He too is a Jasper. Jasper is the nick name for Manhattan grads.

His name Jack Kelly. Graduated from Manhattan College in 1968. A young man compared to me. I graduated in 1957.

He was with his charming wife Sabina. A real nice person.

We talked a while. I was excited to have finally met him. He likewise was excited. We are probably the only Manhattan graduates in the Keys.

Jack did the Air Force ROTC while at Manhattan. Later was a fighter pilot. Retired from the military at some point. Now enjoys Key West and the lower keys.

Jack brought back memories of Manhattan College. He was wearing a tee shirt with writing and an emblem on it. The Pershing Rifles. The organization was a gung ho extension of the ROTC at Manhattan. Meant Jack was really into the military thing while a student. Contrasted with Louis. I left the ROTC after two years. It was enough. I hated the marching, left face, right face, etc. Officers were always shouting that I was out of step. Mentally, I would respond that it was not me. It was the rest of the group.

I actually did not go on with the ROTC after two years because a four or five year committment was required upon being commissioned. I wanted to go directly to law school. A four or five year delay was not part of my plans.

We intend to have dinner together soon.

My evening out turned into a big time winner! Dan and Nancy. Then Jack and Sabina. In between, Jean and Stephanie.

I loved last night!

I finished the evening at Don’s place. Toni and Puff at the bar. Puff watched the end of the Syracuse/Pitt game with me. Syracuse won 14-13. I chatted with Kurt a bit. Don came in. Sat next to me. We talked a long while. I like Don. He is first class.

There was some day time activity, also. A haircut with Lori. A manicure by Tammy. A visit with Lisa.

Today is Saturday. I have no plans. Lets see what happens.

Enjoy your day!