but I need it

Isn't it funny how wants can change to needs?  For 30 years I had a fine old refrigerator without an ice  maker.  Ice cube trays were all I needed. But now, I need my ice maker. It's so handy to reach in the bin and scoop out some ice for my ice tea and it's really great when I have visitors. I came home from my vacation and discovered that it wasn't working. The nice repairman came today, diagnosed and ordered parts. It will be fixed next week which is a good thing because I need my ice maker, which I never even knew I wanted until I had it. I think needs and wants are easily mixed up in this world we live in.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Cecelia

Today is my granddaughter's birthday.  She is 12 years old today and becoming quite a lovely young lady but I was reminded of another birthday seven years ago.  She and her brother were living with me while their mom was in Iraq and she informed me a few days before her birthday, when we were planning a little party for her, that she wanted Chinese food for her birthday.  I was surprised.  My grandkids liked, still like do like, Chinese food but I don't cook Chinese.  We always had Chinese at a local buffet restaurant.  I decided to delve a little deeper so I asked her what kind of Chinese food she wanted precisely.  Her reply "Chocolate pudding and jello."

I'm thinking about retiring.

Actually I'm thinking a lot about retiring.  Only 17 weeks until I gleefully, eagerly retire (for the third and last time). I'm pretty sure it will stick this time and I'm looking forward to sleeping in, long leisurely mornings drinking tea and gradually getting busy doing something around the house, or nothing much, depending on how I feel at the moment. Only one little thing is bothering me.  Many of my friends who are already into this retirement thing have told me that they are busier now than when they were working.  Really?? There's something wrong with this picture.  I think I need to study up on how to manage a really relaxing retirement routine.  Perhaps I'll write a how-to book.  Oh wait, that would be another career....

home again, home again

We had perfect weather until the morning (the very early morning) that we left Venice and even that was a bit of an adventure. A boat taxi picked us up on the Grand Canal in front of our hotel and whisked us off to the airport for the beginning of the 24 hour marathon trip home. Our last view of the old part of Venice was seen through a sheen of misty rain. Even that seemed exotic.
Once at the airport we had a chance to explore the sack breakfast that the hotel had packed for each of us.  We had lots of interesting and delicious food on the trip but the sack breakfast was definitely the most entertaining.  There was a bottle of juice and one of water, a packet of crackers and a small packet of Nutella, two wrapped sweet rolls, and two candy bars and an apple. I had the distinct impression that the kitchen staff had just tossed whatever they could find in our sacks. But throughout the day those little bits and pieces were quite good. And that's the end of my travelling tale.

a nod to the Al Piave Hotel

On our first afternoon in Venice a local guide took us on a walking tour over the bridges and through twisty narrow little streets opening into sun drenched private little courtyards. As we walked, the area reminded me of the Al Piave Hotel, a little 3-story (no elevator) hotel where we stayed 5 years ago on my first trip to Venice.  I asked the guide if she knew the Al Piave, thinking the chances were slim, but she knew the place.  Turned out we were close to it at one point but we had gone too far before I mentioned it to her so I didn't get to see it.  She knew the family however and told me that the son, in college, was coming home on holidays now and was planning to take over running the hotel within a few years. She seemed quite pleased about this.  She went on to explain that mainly because of the cost of housing the population of Venice is declining as young families move to the suburbs.  She also said that the average age of people living in Venice now is 70.  I think the operative phrase there was "living in".  There were lots of younger people wherever I looked.

Venice, beautiful Venice

After 11 days of traveling around Croatia and adjoining countries I was tired;  As we went to bed in a hotel near the Marco Polo airport, I fount myself wishing that I hadn't signed up for the extra two days in Venice and could just head home the next morning.  But in the morning we eight who had opted to stay were driven to a lovely hotel, the Monaco Grand Canal, which was the nicest hotel of our entire trip (which is saying something) and, as the name implies, right on the Grand Canal.  All I needed was one sighting of the Grand Canal and I was so glad I stayed.  Venice is a magical city, timeless and beautiful.  I have been there once before but this time I did go on a gondola ride, touristy but fun.  We also took a boat ride out to Murano Island and saw a glass blowing demonstration and toured one of the beautiful showrooms of Murano glass.  I wasn't tempted to buy anything until I saw a lovely vase, very smooth sleek design like an elongated oval,about 24 inches tall, with swoops of color inside the clear glass form.  it was truly lovely and I asked the helpful young man who had led us on the tour how much it was.  His reply "You have very good taste." I knew I was in trouble.  "How much?" I said again. "Twenty-five hundred euros."  Ouch, I gracefully declined.  "Perhaps" he said "we could negotiate the price."  "Can you negotiate it down to 500 euros?"  The poor man blanched and sadly walked away.

Wine tasting in Slovenia

One of our lasts stops before we finished our tour with two days in Venice was a winery in Kopar, Slovenia.  It was a fun tour with a view of one of the world's largest wine barrels among other things.  After the tour we had a wine tasting (nice wine, especially the white, but honestly not better than what I've had here at home).  The wine tasting was greatly enhanced by one of our traveling companions from England.  He put on a very James Bond-ish posh British accent and did a hilarious imitation of a wine connoisseur. He swirled, he sniffed, he sipped, then offered outrageous suggestions about what the wine might contain, never loudly enough of course to insult our tour guide who was justifiably proud of her family's wine business.