January 7 - 13, 2009 Verona, Italy

The things one just doesn't know - like where one will be the next day, and where Romeo and Juliette are from! Verona is the answer to both questions. I am glad to have gone back to Cyprus for the day and a half, since the weather necessitated a complete exchange of clothes. Not to mention that Dale needed a few warmer items as well. The temperature hovered between 0C and +5C which means that I can now commiserate better with folks back home. Fortunately there was no snow, so getting around was easy.
We had an absolutely fabulous time. We bought a three day ticket for the sights and walked our feet off. We stayed right downtown (thanks to Adam for the recommendation) and everything was close by. The Arena is basically a miniature Colosseum in the heart of Piazza Bra - apparently a very famous park. Then of course one must see Juliette's home and her famous balcony, her tomb and Romeo's house. The Castelvecchio was fantastic and included many wonderful rooms full of museum pieces. The churches, Chiesa di Santa Anastasia (the largest in Verona), Chiesa di San Fermo Maggiore (has churches upstairs and down), Basilica di San Zeno, and Complesso del Duomo were breathtaking. The Teatro Romano e Museo Archeologico was also used as a monastery and famous for wine and spirits. And we also covered the Natural History Museum and the Radio Museum (Dale's choice - but very interesting). Not bad for 15 euros each!
Mel and Yves also joined us and we tried a different restaurant every night - the favourite was La Pigna - antica trattoria (I really need to get Rita or Peter to help with some translations - especially before another trip!), where we went for Dale's Birthday. After our scrumptious dinner, and of course a bottle of Valpolicella (we were in the region after all) we got to listen to some wonderful classical music put on by L'Accademia Filarmonica e i giovani, while we gazed around the exquisite interior of the Complesso del Duomo (one of the churches I mentioned earlier). It felt more like my birthday - what a treat.
On another evening Dale and I got tickets to the Concerto sinfonico that featured an amazing pianist - Sandro De Palma. It was a fabulous evening, and small world that it is, when we returned to our Hotel after dinner, we met the conductor - Boris Brott . . . who was from Montreal. We had a lovely chat with him and his wife and found out that as well as doing guest appearances, he also conducts an orchestra in Los Ageles (and I thought we got around!)
So, I think I have covered most of our week. Italy was all and more than I had hoped, and Rome and Florence and of course Venice, are still on my bucket list. Had I had some warning I would have looked up a few words - especially since so many were so close to my very limited Spanish - I think it would be much easier than Greek!
Anyway, nice to be back in Cyprus - and certainly warmer. Our next trip is off to visit George and Johanne in the Bahamas then up to Philadelphia for Dale's annual recurrent training. This year is certainly starting off at a fast pace!
All the best in 2009.
Love,
Laurel
p.s. of course the coffee was superb, but nothing can come close to the cioccolada

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verona

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Verona-140824/Things_To_Do-Verona-The_churches_of_Verona-BR-1.html#1

December 17, 2008 - January 5, 2009

I am now going to attempt to catch you up on these three weeks, before I launch into this week.
I joined Dale as he headed off from Cyprus to Cairo on December 17th. During our week in Cairo we managed to get in a few days of golfing, a visit to the Khan El-Kahlili (my favourite market), and a couple of visits with our friends. We got to Ma'adi to help Dave and Jacqueline and a group of their friends from church, including MJ and Neil - to package gift boxes for Sudanese children for Christmas. Jacqueline had everything counted out and prepared so it wasn't long before we were into the mulled wine and goodies. It was a lovely evening. Our other excursion was a Felucca ride with MJ and a group of friends. There wasn't any wind, so we anchored out in the middle of the Nile for a lovely picnic lunch. We stopped by at the Grand Cafe on the Corniche on the way home, presumably for a coffee (it was a little chilly on the boat), but given the option of a fresh mango juice, of course that won out for me. I swear they peel a mango, then squish it into the glass - ripe and sweet and chunky! Yum!
What we did miss out on was our Canadian Christmas in Cairo. Dale ended up having to work, so we had to cancel Christmas dinner with MJ and Neil and their friends. Nothing like last minute cancellations! Fortunately, Jeff and Brett were still able to join the group for the breakfast Felucca ride, so they played Santa for us.
Also fortunately, early in the New Year, MJ and Neil met up with Dave and Anita White (from Comox) in Hurghada, and came up to El Gouna for the day to visit with us. Adam was there too, so we arranged to all meet for lunch - 7 of us from Comox, Jason from Calgary and Yves from Montreal. All of us sitting out in the sun having coffee/lunch in El Gouna. What is most fantastic is that that is hard enough to arrange when we are back in Comox!
The rest of our time in El Gouna was pretty relaxing. Some time at the beach with a couple of good books, and generally taking it easy (forcing ourselves to go to the gym). The temperature was in the low 20s, but the wind was up for several days, so Jason and Adam (and Dale for a bit) got in some kite surfing too.
We were then back to Cairo on the 4th and I returned to Cyprus on the 5th. Just time enough to do laundry and pay some bills then off again!

Merry Christmas (I hope better late than never)

Merry Christmas from Cyprus!

It has been almost two years since we decided to try this adventure and it truly has been all and more than we could have imagined. 2008 was a good year to have welcomed our immediate family over to this historic place. Joel had a great visit last spring followed by Adam and Natalie, and finally in the fall Laurel's folks made the big expedition to see us on the other side of the planet. The folks not only made the trek in one continuous day but we sent them packing off to Cairo for a special day trip only 30 hours after they had arrived. Surprisingly, they held up very well – running on adrenalin and soaking up the sites.

Our lives in Kouklia have been very rewarding with plenty of new friends, lots of activities, and of course the food! It has been a fun and memorable time.

Work for Dale has been rewarding as well. The destinations, crew, client, and aircraft have all contributed to a very exciting experience.

We do miss home in Comox and thoroughly enjoyed our visit in the fall. The challenging effort to see everyone was mostly accomplished and re-affirming our roots is always important.

We can't thank Skype enough. With this tool, we can keep daily or weekly contact with kids and parents. Even phoning to Berwick to catch Dale's Mom in her room is possible ( she likes to spend much of her time in the retirement home theatre perfecting her Wii video game bowling skills).

Next year we look forward to travelling to the Bahamas and visit George and Johanne on their new live aboard sailboat. We also look forward to a longer visit from Adam and Natalie and of course a trip to Comox will be in the plans again for several weeks mid summer.

We wish you all the peace and love the season can bring and that 2009 meets all of your goals and dreams. Our goal will be to try to keep the blog a bit more up to date.

Much love,

Dale and Laurel