We Take Ourselves With Us

Our second stop on the cruise was Athens--we'd be there for two days, so when we were planning the trip, it seemed to make sense to book a tour of the Acropolis on day one to anchor our trip.  Then, the European heatwave made itself known like Hephaestus bringing all the fire.  The forecast said 101 as a high, and in fact, it was so hot the day before  we arrived in town that the Acropolis was closed for the entire afternoon. Luckily, we at least had the sense to book the earliest Acropolis tour we could.  Our group was small--just 8 people, and we'd all been together on the Olympia tour as well.  (Highly recommend Travel Insiders, a local team we booked these two excursions with.)  So, we were through the ticket gate and on our climb up to the Acropolis quickly.  One observation about the climb: the entire walkway to and from the Acropolis is made of marble--shiny, slick, no-traction marble, which made for an interesting journey up (and down) the ...

Day two in New Orleans, we had (mis)identified another GF breakfast joint, one closer to our hotel, which turned out not to offer all its website promised.  So, we punted and quickly found another place off Jackson Square and started getting our steps in. One of the most lovely parts of New Orleans buildings, in my eyes, were the painted signs of yesteryear whose faded glory shone through like ghosts of a past long forgotten.  Imagine a world in which one would go to a busy city center to find "raw furs." The green on these doors is everything. Building patina like no other and a city reflected in shades. Four for the road to Chartres. This small pharmacy museum was like something out of Harry Potter: a window of magical potions at the ready. What struck me about this sign was that the Loyola College of Pharmacy gives enough of these plaques to have a template for them.   Lovely reflection of the Quarter in the window of a loom sh...