Life at Sea Since Denmark

A lot has happened since we left Denmark a few weeks ago. Life has been busy and blogging takes much longer than I ever expected. In addition, Mary Carlson, who was keeping a blog for U.Va. but left in Copenhagen, asked several of us to post some entries so you will find two of my entries on that site. the link to it is: http://www.publicaffairs.virginia.edu/uvatodayblog/abroad/ In addition to checking my site, you can also check this one for updates. I have posted many pictures on Facebook so if you want to see them please look there. For some reason, it is very fast to post pictures to Facebook and it takes forever using blogspot. If you aren't on Facebook, you can create and account and once we're friends you can see my photos, or if you really want to see them I can e-mail them to you through Facebook very easily. This is in case you have abundant free time or can't sleep... Thanks also to everyone who has sent notes; it's always nice to hear from all of you!!

But, a quick update: Since Denmark we have spent a total of about 8 days at sea - some of which were very rocky - at least by my standands), 4 days in Belgium and 4 days in Italy. Both were wonderful trips. After leaving Italy on Saturday and on our way to Istanbul we learned of the bombings that killed 17 people and injured more than 150. The Institute for Shipboard Education, in conjuction with the U.S. Embassy and a risk management team, determined that we should not go. After much discussion they decided we would go somewhere else and I now find myself on the way to Alexandria. I am very saddened by the reason we need to detour but looking forward to three days in Cairo. The Field Office very quickly organized about 8 trips and since the change was so last minute we (my kids and I) decided it would be easiest to do pre-arranged trips. Look for an update sometime over the weekend!

While in Belgium, I spent all of my time in Antwerp and I feel like I really got to know a good part of the city. I did lots of walking (and some shopping) and ate some wonderful mussels, shrimp and ice cream. The streets are beautiful and the since the city is confusing it was nice to walk around never knowing where you would end up.

Italy was also spectacular and I survived numerous cab rides which were quite the adventure. On our first day my son arrived (he is here for two weeks) and so we just spent the day in Naples (he spent the afternoon trying to get some sleep). We had a very tasty dinner at a restaurant close to the port and then found gelati for desert. On the second day we got up early and took the train to Roma! The train ride, mostly along the coast, was gorgeous and I of course loved everything in the archaeological district - the Colosseum, the Forum, Palatine Hill, etc. We did lots and lots of walking that day, ate some great food, and once again enjoyed just getting lost discovering the many side streets. On day three, we took a boat to Capri. We went to the beach, saw the Blue Grotto and took the chair lift to Anacapri at the top. There aren't enough adjectives to describe the views. Finally, on day four I went to Pompeii - an archaeologist's dream or at least mine. I could have stood there for hours and hours; it was hard to take it all in. In the afternoon I took a cab to the National Museum where all of the materials from Pompeii are housed. To walk through the rooms of artifacts and frescoes from the site was amazing (sorry, there's that word again).

So that's my update for now. Egypt tomorrow and updates soon!