Puerto Rico 70!

Sunrise on my 71st year.

We completed our coastal tour of Puerto Rico this year for my 70th birthday. BD66 was the north coast, especially including San Juan. BD67 was the east side - Vieques. BD69 was the west coast - Rincón. This year, for the south coast, we stayed on Punta Pozuelo, south of Guayama.

With us this time, we had my brother David, along with Hallas family Kathy & Michael, and Zeta & Sean. 

Here is the birthday unicorn:

and his stable (except his mare that took the picture):

We had a local Paella dinner one night (and a couple days after)

We also had a revolving pack of dogs, up to seven at a time.

They took turns being the alpha protector dog, keeping other dogs from bothering us. There was no way to avoid them because the fence around our houses was full of holes.

The dogs couldn't protect Eleni from the greatest danger of all - Kathy's fingernails. Kathy grabbed Eleni's arm when some dogs threatened her during a walk. Here is the result:

David's main function was to make sure I drank enough beer. Here we are leaving the bar at the marina, ready to drive back to the house [RELAX! It's posed!] David's job got easier towards the weekend when more spots were open.

We waited all week to visit the only brewery I could find on the south coast - Papa Rupe in Ponce. Despite great reviews, we were unimpressed with most of the beer we tried, except for a sour that David proclaimed to be exactly what a sour should be. For this pose, I was instructed to look sexy. This is what a 70 YOM looks like when he tries to be sexy.

We visited "the big city" Guayama for 3 King's Day. The plaza was full of decorations and people. We had to escape when all the kids that got electric scooters for Christmas began the blind gran tour of the plaza. But before that, everyone else posed:

Along with Papa Rupe, Ponce had one of the fanciest firehouses I have ever seen

Eleni was instructed to look sexy posing in front of the fountain in the plaza. She was better at it than I:

Here is Michael's impression of what Teddy Roosevelt would have looked like if he spent some time in Puerto Rico:

Please feel free to suggest other captions in the comments.

Puerto Rico is always about the beaches. Here are the floaters

and Kathy sitting in just one of the little hide-aways where one can get out of the sun

Sunset on my 70th birthday week in Puerto Rico:

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Puerto Rico 69!

 After a one-year hiatus, we spent my birthday week in Puerto Rico again. This time we had Zak's family with us.

Eleni had so much fun she stayed behind when the rest of us went home, though she did return on the 18th.

We did the west coast, specifically Rincón. Rincón is famous for surfing,

which we don't do. There are more food trucks per square mile than anywhere I have seen. And just as many restaurants. That was good, because we do like to eat on vacation. 

Most beaches have rocks just in from the shore. These would not be such an obstacle if the waves were not so violent.

There was a beach just a half-hour walk 

John is ready to walk to the beach

away that was very sandy and calm, so we tried it. Definitely more like the other places we have visited in PR. Everyone else drove 5 minutes in the car to get there.

We rented a townhouse "Steps from the Beach." It was about 120 steps from the driveway to the sand and only a few more to reach water. There was plenty of shade, which was nice. If you braved the waves and got out far enough with snorkel stuff, there were plenty of fishies to watch. No pix of fish.

For my birthday, I visited the town plaza:

Sat with my granddaughters:

And I was serenaded (happily not "Happy Birthday") at a brewery that also had some of the best food of the trip, and certainly the most percussion:

Puerto Rico is very supportive of wall art:

Zach & Kaitlyn spent an entire beach visit with goggles on collecting shells and other interesting stuff from the ocean floor. Zak also found a "message in a bottle" that turned out to be a list of names.

We finally remembered to catch the sunset on the last evening.

And yes, we saw some big iguanas:

Greece 2023

Athens, Naxos, Paros, Antiparos, and Kifisia the easy way.

September, 2023 we returned to Eleni's motherland with her sisters and their husbands.

Upon our arrival in Athens, cousin (once removed) Christos picked us up at the airport, dashing our plans to lug our luggage through the train system. That led to lunch with his mother, Pavlina & Taki, Margarita, and more kids. A nice change from the long flight! We then met up with the sisters, who had arrived the previous day, at the hotel. I believe shopping, drinking, and eating ensued.

The next day, Sean & I took the ferry to Naxos while everyone else flew. I don't know why the ferry cost more than the flight, but it was a nicer and more interesting trip. I sat with a couple from the UK and an UK expat Aussie (randomly assigned seating).

One dinner on Naxos featured fish stew for 2 (motto: a fish in every spoonful!)

Eleni, Sean, and I hiked to visit Zeus' cave.

The trail up

The watcher of the cave

Inside the cave. The colors are from growths on the rocks, rather than human painting, I think.

There were a lot more goats in the area, but only the one that hung out near the trail.

The view from somewhere near our lodgings on Naxos

Then we all got on the ferry for a short trip to the island Paros. 

The front of our Paros lodging

Our first adventure (Eleni, Sean, me) on Paros was a "secret" cove 36.9771, 25.1739. It is a little pool that can only be accessed by swimming around the point and under an arch. Sean & I did that. Actually others jump off the arch, but we are too old for that level of adventure. It's worth several pictures:

and the nearby beach (Tripiti2)

we didn't even swim from because we had to go to another beach (Tripiti1) and another taverna (Glyfa) for lunch.

Sunday was a good day to tour the cathedral:

The garden outside

The front

Inside

Saint Eleni, easily confused with our Eleni

Greek version of a "red tag." Perhaps Sandoval County could use these for our more rural homes?

Another Eleni, Sean, and John adventure day started at the "butterfly" refuge. They are actually moths, but attractive ones:

Up close. When they fly, their wings are red underneath.

Bunches! There were quite a lot of them around.

This unfortunate person bent over to look at a sign and a cat jumped onto her back for a nap. She patiently waited for it to take a little snooze.

The refuge was also a bit of an arboretum. There are many types of trees, mostly fruit-bearing! A nice stop, even if it was not that "Greek."

Then, a short ferry ride and onto the Antiparos Cave! This turned out to be quite the tourist destination, and for good reason. At the entrance, there is a cairn garden:

At 279 feet deep, the cave was spectacular:

If you look closely, you will see the stairs!

Then on to the southern tip of Antiparos to see rocks, swim, and eat:

Too rocky to swim here

But this was nice. The most sheltered-from-wind beach of the trip.

In Lefkes, we found a Greek fire truck, but no firefighters:

Then back to the mainland to stay in Kifisia, visit Zina's family, and more hiking for me. A long hike through suburbs and up the mountain got me to Davelis Cave:

There is a little chapel at the front of the cave

Inside are two altars. This is the newer one.

The older altar, with fading icons

Nicholas, the patron saint of the cave

No cave is complete without a (dead) bat. There was a live one flying around for a moment, but too quick to photograph.

The view from the inside, out.

Our last adventure day, just Eleni & John, walking around the old town:

A Greek UPS driver. Scooters fit better than trucks.

The Greek equivalent of U52, near the Acopolis

An ancient tortoise near the Acropolis

These are my highlights. Sorry if you expected food pictures. Check out others' posts and you will likely find more.