Crusing the North and Baltic Seas.... Klaipeda, Riga and Tallinn

Side note: I am reading Daniel Silva's new book,The English Girl--the characters travel to Dover, Copenhagen and St. Petersburg, all on our itinerary -- good timing -- and an adventurous read, as always.

Klaipeda:  Visited Klaipeda and Palanga, Lithuania today. Bus drove out of town about 40 minutes to the Palanga Estate, which has an Amber Museum, acres and acres of parkland and a beach. Gorgeous, long beach it has along the Baltic coast.... After touring, we had wine tasting on the ship -- amidst heavy seas...walking the halls afterwards was just like walking after having had way way too many!!! Too funny. Riga tomorrow.

Riga:  Scratched from the itinerary just an hour before we were to go ashore...high seas and 75 MPH wind gusts at the port. So, another day at sea. And another formal night (sigh). Will catch up on all those kindle book samples that piled up... Tomorrow, Tallinn.

Tallinn--lovely, touristy and fun! Restored old town--took lots of photos--quirky store entryways--beautiful buildings. The main Town Square presented local dances and music and had a busy tourist market (reminded me of Salamanca Square in Hobart, which I love). Amber shopping is a theme in these past two ports--amber jewelry designs here are much better than in Klaipeda, but also priced accordingly. Linens (clothes and tea towels, etc) and colorful wool sweaters were also on display everywhere. Too bad we didn't have more time to explore.... May just have to return.... St. Petersburg tomorrow -- have always wanted to go to the Hermitage!

 
Photos of Klaipeda and Tallinn (click on this line)

Cruising the North and Baltic Seas.... Dover and Copenhagen

Dover (and Harwich):  Am cruising the North Sea, along the coast of Denmark.  Had a great flight to London (all 3 seats to myself and an incredible view of central London before landing at 7am) -- then boarded the ship's transfer bus, which drove us two hours through the gorgeous countryside (one of those rare clear, warm summer days) to...Harwich. The Ocean Princess is nowhere to be seen...we're at the wrong port! Two and a half scenic hours later, arrived in Dover and boarded the ship. Beautiful view of  Dover's White Cliffs on our way out to the North Sea. For the errant bus ride, received $59 credit -- can't figure out why it wasn't $60--turns out it was the cost of the airport transfer.  Tomorrow, Copenhagen -- 1st time there. 
 

Copenhagen:  Copenhagen was great--a gorgeous, warm, cloudless afternoon-- perfect for walking to museums/palaces/streets. Had tea at Perch's--yummy scones for me, and sandwiches for mom. Before returning to the ship,we had a glass of wine at L'Angleterre and people-watched. Have to return as didn't have time to see everything! (hint, Colin) Took lots of photos and will take many more.... Now cruising the Baltic Sea -- headed to Klaipeda, Lithuania.

Photos of Dover and Copenhagen (click on this line)

Who Wants to Join the Foreign Service?

To find out, click on the below link to an interview with our Director-General, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who talks about recruiting, selecting and training America's diplomats, and what it takes to maintain 275 diplomatic posts around the world. 

20,000 Want To Be U.S. Diplomats Each Year

NBC's Dateline 6/28: Trapped

An amazing confluence of events conspired to ensure Kelli, Sage and Milo's miracle survival! Sending deep, heartfelt thanks to those who assisted and rescued my cousins--they are heroes (though they may say they were just doing their jobs....)

Part 1: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/dateline/52346714
Part 2: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/52346785/#52346785
Part 3: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/52347449/#52347449
Part 4: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/52346928/#52346928
Part 5: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/52346982/#52346982
Part 6: http://www.nbcnews.com/video/dateline/52347085/#52347085

Eyes -- The Medical Saga

W's right eye cataract was removed 5/21 and left eye 6/12 -- right now has intermediate distance focus lens and left, long distance lens.

Friday 6/14 -- woke up with right eye vision like a foggy/steamy shower door -- various eye drops didn't clear it up, so C scheduled an emergency Drs. appt later that afternoon. Two other surgeons (mine was out that day), checked the eye and saw something "behind the lens" and immediately referred me to an office 3 floors below that had one of the best retinal doctors in the country. This Dr and 5 of his surgeon colleagues had a look at the eye -- all agreed that there was a rare bacterial infection indioed the eye, and to save it, I needed immediate treatment--which turned out to be one needle to numb it, one to extract fluid, and two to inject strong antibiotics.... If this treatment didn't work, surgery would be needed (a vitrectomy -- where they replace the fluid inside your eye). Dr said those who ignore symptoms like this have worse outcomes and that it was excellent that we came in straight away. On the way home, we took the extracted sample to a local hospital for lab analysis. Afterwards, had a very, very sore and red, red eye....not to mention an emotional reaction to being told I could lose my eye.... Was put on a compicated regimen of eye drops and steroid pills.

Saturday 6/15 -- woke up with fogginess in my left eye, which alarmed us, and a right eye that liked to stay closed. On the morning agenda: follow-up appointment with another surgeon as the Dr wanted to keep close tabs on the treatment's effect. This Dr had a look and asked about my hearing loss -- how did I come to have it? Said it was due to Rubella (German measles) that my mother had had when she was pregnant. Aha, this Dr said -- not a bacterial infection, but extreme fogginess likely caused by the cataract surgery which disturbed the Rubella virus inside my eye and primed the virus to attack the newly placed foreign objects, my intraocular lenses. It took 3 weeks to attack my right eye and just 3 days for my left eye. He said this is another rare complication that he had seen in Canada--mostly in babies. Hmmm...two competing diagnoses...who to believe? On the way home, we stop at Baskin Robbins for mint chocolate chip ice cream not only because I crave it, but also to "ice cream" toast to Uncle Richie, who SO loved mint chocolate chip ice cream, on the 2nd anniversary of his death.

Monday 6/17 -- Saw the Dr who gave the bacterial infection treatment on 6/14 for a follow-up -- still quite foggy in both eyes, but there is some improvement. He had chatted with his Canadian colleague before seeing me and they both decided the Rubella virus was the more likely culprit. We feel a little better, but don't quite relax. Saw the Dr everyday this week, and by the end of the weekend, my eyes are almost back to normal. Still don't distance-read too well out of the left eye as that lens has yet to "settle." Medical saga over, with indelible memories....

Tried but True Cliche -- Time Flies!!!

It's been almost a year since we moved from Tel Aviv to Washington, DC. And it's been a quite year since our last actual blog posting.... Once again we're perusing potential posts to bid on later this summer for our 2014 transfer...the possibilities literally cover the world:  Seoul, Buenos Aires, Tijuana, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Bucharest, Bogota, Chennai, Toronto, Jerusalem, San Jose, Hyderabad, Tucson (!), and so on.....

What have we been up to since last June?  After all the moving and unpacking finished, we began to settle in at home. Our neighborhood, which is undergoing major redevelopment, has a baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals several blocks away.  Seeing all the fans coming to and going from the games inspired us to follow the team, which was on a roll to be the NL East Division's winner.  Contrary to what may be popular wisdom, we mostly watch their games on TV.

C's dream came true--he now has a motorcycle!  He enjoys riding Uncle Richie's bike around town.  Even after almost two years, the loss of Richie is still deeply felt by both of us and, especially, his family.

W has had some interesting times.  In November, she attempted to go back to regular tennis workouts, only to pull a hamstring. Ouch. She's still trying to find a way back into the game....Why? In mid-January, W had a late night ride in an ambulance to the ER. She'd had the "flu-like" bug twice (the 1st one postponed a yummy Xmas dinner to the 27th) and been given too many different medicines. The ER doctor soon fixed that! And...last week, she had the first of two cataract surgeries. The result? One eye sees the world in clear, crisp colors and the other sees the world in dingy (yellowy-brown) colors.  Before the surgery, W was thinking of adding stronger lighting to the main bathroom...with her "new" eye, she quickly discovered that it is actually quite bright--amazing, the difference!

We haven't traveled much--visited Spain earlier this month, where we attended the Madrid Open for the 3rd year in a row. Photos of the action are in the previous blog item--enjoy! Next year, our seemingly annual tennis tradition may be the Indian Wells, CA tournament.  All for now....stay healthy!

Madrid Open -- May 2013

Third year at the Madrid Open--and we had LOTS of quality matches....see for yourself....


Madrid Open Tennis Photos
 (click on above link)

Rafa, Maria, David.....Enjoy!!!!

Sine Curve Takes a Deep Dive....

W's cutie pie cat, Emma, went to the emergency hospital last night as when we returned from work yesterday, she was "listing" to one side -- ataxia. We thought it might be related to a blood clot in her brain, an aneurysm, or brain lesion/tumor.  Turns out it was her little, sweet heart--she'd been diagnosed with a murmur 5 years ago and had no symptoms--until yesterday.  Today, while having a CT scan, she joined the kitty angels.  Apparently, she'd had a heart attack. Shocking, even though she was 5 days from her 15th birthday.  And we leave Tel Aviv in less than 2 weeks.  Some of you may recall that W's cat Manon died 48 hours after their arrival in Israel in 2008.  Kira is now an only cat....

Sine Curve Edging Up....Slowly

We haven't done much posting on this blog this year so far, and here's why....


A horrific accident in January involving three of W's dearest cousins, Kelli, Sage and Mylo, was part of a difficult several months W had this year, along with three family deaths in W's family (two aunts and stepfather of 30 years) and last June’s huge loss of Kelli’s father. It’s no wonder why we have been distracted.... Events like these strongly reaffirm the importance of family and friends–which is one of the many reasons why W and C are looking forward to returning to Washington.  

We've just returned from our first REAL vacation since last May--the Madrid Tennis Open. More pictures of the tennis will be posted soon...we hope. In the meantime, below are links to two videos of interviews with W's cousin Kelli and her family– one was done at the Today Show in New York last week and the other at home in San Juan Capistrano, CA. 

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1) Mom recalls rescue from car dangling off bridge


In a daring rescue, emergency personnel in Southern Calif. pulled Kelli Groves and her two young daughters from their car, which had been hit by a truck and was dangling off a bridge. NBC's™ Kristen Dahlgren reports and TODAY's™ Matt Lauer speaks with Groves about the terrifying ordeal. TODAY Show Video

2) CBS at San Juan Capistrano, CA

(will need to wait for short ads to end before videos start)

The Smurf Tournament!

More later....a preview....