Greetings from Percy
 

Just received an e-mail from the traveling doctor! He was approaching Mykonas and had thoroughly enjoyed Turkey. Heading for Rome, Florence, and having a fabulous time. Scheduled for coffee with the pope (as if. . .)! I am delivering "hellos" to the following:

Tully, dfarmer, Greenfieldhunter, Ivk, Faithie, and Neta

Pretty sure he wishes we were all there! :)

Hello Percy my fellow Canuck! happy and safe travels.
Faith.

Oops--this teacher misspelled Mykonos--no a's! Good to hear from you Faithie! How ya been?

Hi Jill, faithie & forward my Hola to Percy! Hopefully he will catch a calcio match in Italia so I can live vicariously thru him. Sounds like a heck of a trip!

Will send your regards. Everything is going well. You know, he plans his trips to the nth degree. Private drivers/tours lined up at each stop, etc. He wrote again, said Mykonos was fabulous, and they were headed for Naples. I really haven't heard from him much--a couple of times. I think he left about the 1st of October. Not sre when the tour is over. I think after the Italy tour, which is just starting.

Hi Tully! How are the cats? :) What do you have in the works?

Hello guys, we are all well, busy with school, sports, making those dreaded school lunches, homework, the usual!

Aw, I'll bet you make great lunches. I never was very creative with that--always running so "last minute" with it! When are you planning your trip? I'm sure you said on the other post.

departure for the end of January. So hopefully some cheap flights come up. Jill, does Lisa not post any longer?

Actually, I've been a little concerned about her. I e-mailed her the other day, and it was returned to me as if the e-mail account no longer existed. I need to try again. Don't have a phone number--well, I might if I looked through last summer's paperwork.

Sorry, posted too soon. I'll let you know if I hear anything.

She used to post on Trip advisor as one of the Experts but I no longer see her there, perhaps just too busy....

I'll try another e-mail. Seldom do I look at the Tripadvisor forum. Mostly just check out reviews there.

hi faithie, hi jill! Hey, talking about missing, what about donna? Haven't seen her in a while, nor Ally.

As for me, still aiming for Croatia in May & trying not get frustrated with planning, and the cats are still spoiled rotten!

When is Percy due back?

Hi Tully, sounds like a fun trip. Donna has not been on since May, Percy had questioned her whereabouts awhile ago.... Hmmm.

Hi you two-

Someone, I think, posted that Donna was fine, just very busy. I miss her, though.

I don't think Ally spends much time on Fodors now that they are in the hotel business (although I would find it helpful). I never hear their hotel mentioned in posts about Nosara, and I wonder how things are going for her and Rick. We'll visit them sometime. Haven't been to Nosara.

Not sure when Percy is due back. I'm guessing shortly. I think it was about a 3 week trip, so probably this weekend. Maybe he'll check in.

Croatia sounds lovely. That's right, Tully--I remember the photos you sent now. How long will you be gone?

I'm off to Puerto Rico Thursday, returning Monday. Visiting hija numero uno. We're going to spend time on the south coast (Ponce) and the west coast (Rincon), I think, before heading back to the marina for the last day or so. Hoping for a mother-daughter spa day on Sunday!

Hello to the cats! :)

Faithie, two more e-mails to Lisa and keep getting the message that the mailbox cannot be found. She and Harry own property there, having been there several years. So I don't know. No way to find out, either. Haven't had a chance to look for her phone number. Hope all is well with them.

I was looking forward to meeting her if we end up in Costa Rica... I'll check trip advisor again. Thanx, Faith.

Hey guys- lurked on by

Best to Percy and friends

Hi gfh--haven't heard from you in awhile--be careful or we'll put out another missing persons bulletin! :)

Hi Everybody:

Thanks for posting my greetings shillmac.

It was a terrific Mediterranean Cruise and like shillmac said , I had private tour guides booked at all the ports so as soon as I stepped off the ship the tour guide was there.

You have to see the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, no use trying to explain it.

Venice was all I thought it would be an more.

I had the tour guides booked tickets in advance so as to avoid line ups.

For example you need to book to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

We also had advance tickets to see Michelangelo's David in Florence.

Did not have time to have tea with the Pope when I was in Rome...maybe next time , yeah sure !!!

Turkey and Greece were both great and a traffic nightmare.!

Okay what places impressed me the most.?

Florence Italy and

Barcelona Spain.

Once agin hello to everyone

Percy

Welcome home, Percy! I have a friend in Barcelona--had forgotten you were going there. So glad you guys had such a great time!

The Pope's loss, I'm sure. . .

:)

Thanks shillmac

Now to rest up( I'm exhausted !!) and catch up on all the mail and bills.

Once again Thank you for posting my e-mail message from Mykonos.

Yes the Pope missed his chance because I have no plans to go back to Rome.!!

Percy

Hola Percy: Like you, my favorite is Firenze Italy and ditto on the Vatican. We got to see "David" before that nut took the hammer and cracked David's toe. I wasn't that crazy about Venice, spent the day and gave up the prepaid hotel and caught an overnight train out. I am wondering if you got to the Bosphorus straits, the old Istanbul, the imperial mosques and Topkopi Palace and if you felt safe. We had this trip planned a few years ago but cancelled. Is being there a real breathtaking experience and is worth giving up a trip back to Mexico and worth that Loooooong plane ride? Thanks and Welcome back.

Hi blondlady:

Thank you for your comments.

So that is what happened to David's toe, it looked a little pale and mottled , so I see now that they had done some repairs.

I like Venice as the private tour guide took me everywhere... also nothing like having that Gondola ( boat) ride and having someone singing to you.!!

Yes, I was at the Bosphorus Strait and saw ,many of the places you mentioned including Topkapi Place and the 400 room harem.
Also saw , the Blue Mosque, Hagi Sophie , that great 1000 year old church as well as the Hippodrome and then the Grand Bazaar.... what a dizzy place.!

We were all safe but I had some reservations about going there because there is a terrorist group in Turkey that is targeting Tourist ONLY!!

They killed several tourist in early September ..ut once I got there I felt okay and safe.

Well, I will still be going to Mexico for a winter break, but yes, it is a loooong plane ride and then there were a few 4 hour waits in Amsterdam.

But if you want to see things like
The Vatican and Sistine Chapel, David, Leaning Tower,
Acropolis in Athens, the Greek Islands etc.... then you have no choice , you have to go to Italy Greece and Turkey.

I am glad I went and I am glad to be back home.

Take Care
Percy