WOW, Tela, fantastic help! Thank you!
Now that you have the pics, here is the story behind:
Back in February, while we were having breakfast at 6 o clock in the morning, I got a phone call from Ed "Stoner". Imagine the surprise we had! And the surprise got bigger when he told me they are going to visit Romania in August. A family trip (cruise) upstream Danube River from Giurgiu (a town on Danube close to Bucharest) to Budapest - Hungary.
Of course, he told me the dates of their trip and we sadly noticed they overlap on our planned vacation in Chios Island - Greece. Our accomodation was already booked, our ferry tickets - already bought.
But we didn't give up: we knew Ed and his lovely wife Susan are freshly retired, thus having more time at hand. So we asked them if it would be OK for them to arrive here a bit earlier, to stay at us a few days here in Bucharest and then to join us in the beginning of our vacation in Chios (for three days, until the time would come to join their family for the Danube cruise).
Well, friends, of course their decision couldn't be a pleasant surprise for you any more, but for us sure it was!!!
In case you didn't figure out they said YES!!!
So, on Thursday after noon, I went to the airport and picked Ed and Susan after a long trip from the Paciffic coast to here. Bearing in mind the long flights they had, they were pretty fresh and we enjoyed a very pleasant first evening with exchanging gifts (Ed's were much more generous than mine), talking about rocks, licking rocks, dining and pleasant talking.
The next day (Fryday) the fatigue of the long trip took its toll on Ed and Susan, who had a good sleep up to noon time.
In the after noon the recovering program continued, with only a short visit to the local Geological Museum. No pics from here, sorry.
Then, on Saturday morning, we visited the Village Museum. This is a museum in open air, in one of the largest parks in Bucharest. It consists in many old houses from different areas of our country. The houses were carefully taken apart from their original locations and then re-built in the museum area.
A bit later, same day, we had a BBQ with Ed, Susan, Ina's sister and her husband, who also were going to join us in the Chios island vacation. The BBQ was an excellent ice-breaker and the pleasant and funny atmosphere was just a sample of what the next vacation days would look like.
The next day - Sunday - we travelled almost all day long from Bucharest (Romania) to Kavala (Greece). A 700 km trip. On our way to Kavala we made a stop to soak our feet in the Aegeean Sea. Then, in the evening, we arrived in Kavala where we had a walk in the old town and then a dinner in a restaurant close to the harbour (see the Ouzo pic). Close to midnight, the ferry arrived and we had a pretty good trip . It would had been perfect with smaller waves, which were big enough to wake us from time to time.
Then, after a 15 hours cruise with two stops in other two islands (Limnos and Lesvos), we arrived in Chios. Our accommodation was some ten miles out of Chios Town - the capital city of the island.
In the three days spent together with Ed and Susan, we visited mostly the Southern part of the island. Each morning we went to a beach. Clear, warm water. No "ïnteresting" rocks, unfortunately
Then, we visited some beautiful vilages: Pyrgy - the one with the houses painted in two contrasting colors (black/white) and Mesta - the fortress - village with houses made of stone and with unbelievable narrow streets.
Of course, during all this time we had dinner to some local restaurants right on the sea shore.
As I stated before, the words cannot describe the pleasant moments spent together. The talking came naturally, the jokes - the same, all in all there was a dream vacation. At least for us. Maybe
stoner would also come here with his comments.
But, of course, like all good things, our vacation days together with Ed and Susan came to an end when we went with them to the Chios town airport. From there they flew to Athens - Greece and then to Bucharest, where they continued the rest of their vacation.
Ed and Susan, you made our vacation SO special and we are so thankful for this to you! We really hope we will meet you again soon!
Thank you all for looking at the pics and for the patienty of reading this long story.
Special thanks to Tela, who helped me with posting the pictures.
Adrian
Sorry these uploaded out of order.
