Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Appreciative, Productive, Popular, Interesting Hodgepodge

 

1. What's something you think is under appreciated. Explain.  I think laughter is under appreciated. Laughter is good for the soul. According to mayoclinic.org, Laughter induces physical changes in our body. Laughter enhancesour intake of oxygen rich air, stimulates our heart, lungs and muscles, and increases endorphins (really good thing!!). According to the same website, laughter can actually improve our immune system. I LOVE to laugh and the louder and longer someone can make me laugh wins extra points (we aren't keeping score . . .or are we hahaha!). I think another thing we under appreciate is a quick afternoon nap. I can take a 20 minute power nap in my recliner and I'm good to go again. I always the alarm on my watch for 30 minutes because it take a few minutes to relax and then I usually wake up before the 30 minutes is over.

2. As winter approaches how do you stay productive? I'm always productive UNLESS I'm on a beach vacation. Even then, I am fairly productive. I still work 40+ hours a week and I'm productive on my job. There is always laundry to be done and dishes to be loaded and books to read and stationary bike to ride. I might not be outside, but Mark and I are both people who like to be productive.

3. What's a popular food you don't like? First of all, I want to clarify. I am not a picky eater. There are a couple of "popular" food items that I do not like. Salmon is the first one. Other people LOVE it. I don't like it at all. If I'm at your house and your serve salmon, I will try to eat a bite or two. I will shuffle it around on my plate. If you live in the south, you have probably been exposed to Salmon Croquettes, made with canned salmon. If  I'm invited to dinner at your house and you serve those, I may have to excuse myself. The smell makes me feel sick. One time our chef at church prepared salmon croquettes. I actually had to leave the building for about an hour hahaha! The other thing that lots of people like that I don't like AT ALL is cashews. They actually make me feel horrible.

4. What do you think is more interesting-art or history? Elaborate. Well, I'm studying American History right now. I have learned some very interesting things that were not taught when I was studying history at a much younger age. I do enjoy art - especially if there is a docent to explain the meaning of the art.

5. What advice would you give to someone half your age? Half my age . . .wow, 33. I remember being 33. We get to hang out with lots of young adults. I would tell them to quit worrying so much about what other people think of you. Be kind. Be nice. Treat others well. Stop worrying so much about the opinions of others. If you are still single, take the trips -- ALL of the trips! Don't wait! I would also tell all 33 year olds -- SAVE SOME MONEY. Start saving when you are young. When you grow old, you will be glad you did.

6. Insert your own random thought here. If this ad was real, I wish I had seen it! The problem is that I haven't found a way to take my twenty minute power nap in my office!!




Monday, November 11, 2024

Seaport Town Nafplion - Friday, October 18

The water was a little choppy overnight on Thursday night, but it was nothing like Wednesday night's waves.

We loved opening our curtains in the morning to see the ports for the first time. The seaport town of Nafplion greeted us on Friday morning.




This was another day of being tendered (riding the tender or taking a boat to shore) - I have no idea which is correct. We rode with our friends, Laura and Scott.






The theater at Epidaurus is the best preserved example of a classical Greek theater in the Mediterranean. The theatre can hold 14,000 people. We were told that people in the seats could hear a pin drop so of course, our folks had to try it out. They didn't use a pen, but they whispered and the folks way up in the stands could hear it.




I turned around and this was the view behind us. It was gorgeous.


We were sitting in the stands, just as if we were spectators.




We headed to lunch at a local restaurant. These were the beverages served. They had other kinds, too.


We served ourselves from a large buffet.


We headed to see the ancient city of Corinth. An earthquake destroyed old Corinth in 1858. The new city was rebuilt three and one-half miles to the northeast on the coast. With the moving of the modern city, archaeologists have been free to excavate the ancient ruins. Back in 146 BC, the Romans destroyed Corinth and it lay in ruins until it was rebuilt by Julius Caesar in 44 BC.

In Paul's day, Corinth was the largest and most influential city in Southern Greece.





Did you know that the apostle Paul met fellow tentmakers Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth?







The Temple of Aphrodite owned more than a thousand temple slaves and do you know why this temple was so famous? There were many temple prostitutes!






I think the photo below is amazing. I love how the light is coming down from the top.



We gathered under this lovely tree.


Brian shared scripture and a few words.


Our pastors then served communion to us . . .in the middle of Corinth.








Everytime I see an ancient road, I think of all of those who have walked it before me.



Some of us went into the museum. It was very intersting. These are twin statues. You can read this article about how they were recovered. 



The mosaics are just spectacular.






The piece below shows that there was a Jewish population in this town.




Some of the folks walked down to see this. At this point, I said, "I'll take a photo." It was the ancient theater.



We headed back to the Azamara Pursuit. We were able to ride on the top of the tender.


It was so beautiful.



There were two yachts anchored there. One had a name on it so folks looked it up. It was a six million dollar yacht.




It amazed me how the tender would pull up to the boat and no matter the conditions of the water, the guys on the boat and the guys on the ship would grab us and get us onto the deck.


I had a piece of pita with hummus at dinner. It was so good!!


This was our last night on the Azamara Pursuit. What a wonderful time! We are almost at the end of our trip.