Broomstick lessons

We had a 3:30 class booked for Jaffa and Eben to learn how to ride their broomsticks. 

It's really about time they learned.

 

Honestly?  What fun it would be to teach this class,

and the gentlemen were clearly having fun with it.

 

One they went over the basics of technique and good form,

the students were each handed a broom to test their abilities.

 



Fortunately, we had two pretty decent broomstickers..

 

 

And some proud teachers (who just might have had a couple a pints before class).

Alnwick Castle

 
 
 
 

Before leaving Jakarta, we binged on Harry Potter movies in preparation for our trip to England.  We watched all 7+1 movies in about 10 days so that we would be able to be proper tourists. (The enthusiasm for Platform 9¾ at Kings Cross Station was good first test. We passed.)  So, going to Alnwick Castle, where Harry had his first flying lesson, was super exciting!  It's a beautiful castle, still inhabited by the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, with much of it open to the public.  We had a great day visiting.

 

We started with the Dragon's Quest.. 

 

Having slayed the dragon, went on the Knight's Quest.

 

Once we completed our weapons training and other physical challenges, we did the mandatory hill roll race.

And then Eben shot some things out of the meurtriere.  That was the castle... there was much left to do on the grounds...



Durham!

We were sooooo happy to see Beth and David and Siobhan.  It had been so long since we saw them in Washington, and it was great to have a visit.. and to see Durham and head north to Scotland with them.

 

Durham is a pretty town, and it was nice to be a little chilly.  Beth was a great tour guide :)

 

On our bop around Durham, we learned about Saint Cuthbert, the pilgrimage and the Viking attacks.

We visited the Cathedral..

and knocked on the door like the escaped prisoners did to get protection

before planning to leave England.   

So wonderful to see our friends and their beautiful old town!

 

Some hours in Kings Cross Station

From Athens, we headed to London but only for a few hours to grab the train northbound to Durham to see our friends Beth, David, and Siobhan.  Imagine our surprise when we walked into King's Cross Station right into Platform 9¾ !!   Wow!!  The line to have your picture taken running the luggage cart through the wall was about 2 hours long so we shopped in the Harry Potter store instead.

 

 

We had enough time to explore some of the food choices.. and look what we found!

 

We had enough snacks to make for a good train ride.. and it was beautiful too!

boys in Athens, part 2

After a great time on the island, the fast ferry brought us back to Athens.. for just a day or so.. and so we ate some more and shopped, and did a little more site seeing.  As it was.

It was a fabulous trip, with fabulous friends and fabulous food.  We are very lucky indeed!!

Faos and Kastro again

On Day 4 (I think but I'm not sure.. we were on vacation), after morning pastries, we headed to Faos. 

There was a great beach there.. but we had an ulterior motive..

Lobster pasta lunch at Limanaki!!  WOW!!  The not-so-secret ingredient in the pasta sauce was ouzo, and it was amazing.  We have yet to try it at home, but it's on the list!

After lunch, we rolled into the cars and then back to Kastro..

this time to swim (and eat pastries).

[a cat after my own heart..]

 tempting..

more hermit crab house construction

 

and wrestling down the "happy birthday to Dena" shot.. hoping to use the Panda to hold the camera for a full group shot.. that didn't work.. so...

it turned out like this:

Kistriopigi and Artemonas

And then there was Kritiopigi..

 

We explored the church.. that was not open.. but still so beautiful..

and good for strong-man shots..

 

and then we swam and played with hermit crabs

 

For dinner, we found the town of Artemonas which had winding sidewalks through the whole town.

We found another great restaurant after some roaming, where we had a view of a sunflower garden.
[Sorry, no pictures.. too busy stuffing our faces with chickpea stew!]