I had a wonderful visit to New York - and the best day of my summer! I was able to join my brother and nephew August for his first trip to the beach!
We had lunch on the water, (littleneck and baked clams for me, chicken for August.) Then hit the beach and swam in the water.
He had a great time and loved the water. Our biggest chuckle of the day was in the back seat, when August turned and asked me, "Why is Grandma calling Grandpa .... Bob?" Fun day!
I took a quick over-night trip to Brighton with a friend - and her 6 month old puppy! Susan, Kona and I got to know the rocky English beach phenomenon, ate smoked kippers and saw the Brighton restaurant re-made on 'Kitchen Nightmares."
It was a mixture of a "London by the sea", and Santa Cruz. We had some nice hot weather, a rarity for this town!
Pictures are here!
We joined our friends Dave and Amy and their two children, 2 nieces and a bunch of other couples with kids at a 'pick-you-own' farm in Surrey a few weekends ago.
We picked up a fun Prius Zip Car and despite our best intentions of getting up early, we stuck to our usual schedule of leaving the city at noon. (Reminiscent of many weekends racing up to Napa because we were late.)
We had a huge bounty: blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peas, sun flowers, cherries, cabbage, one brussel sprout, and one piece of broccoli.
After a fun Sunday roast pub lunch- we headed back into the city! A good week followed with fresh fruit in our yogurt, coleslaw and a raspberry trifle.
Well some how I made the cut, (which I think was pretty much who ever was interested and willing to pay) and became a member of the Sons of the Thames. The autumn afternoons became winter mornings and we began twice weekly team circuit workouts to get in shape for the summer season. We began going out and rowing all 8 - instead of 2 or 4 of us setting the boat - we suffered through balance problems, and fears of falling in, tons of what are here called 'burpies' and we call squat thrusts.
We were told by our coach that we were getting ready to race in the summer - "but come on," we said to each other, "we are just happy getting out on the water - and we stink, we'll never race."
Race we did! We've competed in two regattas this summer - Kingston and Richmond. We celebrated the first race with a huge team hug as our goal was really just not to mess up, (we all prayed to not catch a crab- rowing term for when your blade gets caught in the water and goes over your head - forcing the rest of the boat to stop while you have to lay down and pull the blade back to the right position.)
Our current status - 2nd in both races, (both races had just 2 boats.) But - we did almost race Oxford, if we would have won a race, we would have raced them. If I ever race Oxford, I will hang up my wellies and be done with the whole thing.
I really love it - not only is it huge fun for TJ and I on weekends when we are both coming home from our activities, (TJ golf) and have had great days to talk about, but it is amazing being a member of a team again. Not since lacing up the basketball shoes, or donning the field hockey skirt have I enjoyed the camaraderie of team sports. I row with women from England, Germany, France and New Zealand. We cheer each other on, pat each other on the back when we've had a good or bad outing and have this common love.
My dream remains to skull in my retirement - but it may be fun to race Oxford just once.
Based on the recommendation of a friend - TJ and I wrote to the American embassy, to request tickets for the Royal enclosure at Ascot. The embassy is given a certain amount of tickets - that they then give their citizens to allow access to this formal area of the races. After submitting a required recommendation we were granted access!
Entrance to the royal enclosure requires men to wear a morning suit, with top hat, and women to cover their shoulders, wear a knee length dress, and a hat or 'substantial fascinator'. Hmmm, what is that? Well a fascinator is one of those little hats that you see members of the royal family wearing - they look like feathers pinned in the hair.
I think I forgot that Ascot actually involved horse racing - I was so excited about the culture and people-watching. It was amazing to see so many top hats and big hats. We placed bets based on names and went out to watch the royal family arrive.
The outfits did not disappoint. The one above was my favorite man of the day. Ha - TJ, look at the THOSE trousers!
This is a funny indication of the difference between being in the royal enclosure, (crowd on the left of the fence,) and in the general admission, (crowds on the right.) I kind of felt like a cross between: 'I don't belong....someone is going to come by and kick me out at any moment' and 'this is AWESOME, this champagne is fantastic, and I NEED to wear more hats.'
This lady was my favorite of the day. Look at the swank silver dress, fun funky shoes, and beautiful feathered statement black hat. She later wore gloves - elegant. modern, & fun.
Santorini was the last 4 days of the vacation. We ventured out of the hotel a bit more - rented a dunebuggy and travelled to local wineries and to a red sand beach. We had to hike in a bit and then could swim looking up a the red cliffs. 
The hotel was fantastic - the Cosmopolitan Suites. Each morning I ran and then quickly changed and jumped into the pool before breakfast. I think I've discovered my favorite way to wake up.
These are pictures from the room -it had a small dining room - didn't spend much time in it but I had some grand plans to use it, as it would have been perfect to stage a Greece wine tasting if we were with friends.
We had some fantastic dinners at Vanillia and 1800 - definitely ate well. Breakfast each day was yogurt with honey, breads and an assortment of cheeses with sliced tomatoes.
We ended the trip with a boat ride out to the volcano where we swam to a 'hot springs' and then cruised around and watched the sunset. TJ has great pictures of this as I ran out of room. There was one incident on the boat where a fellow traveler was over-enthusiastic, he and his girlfriend were prancing around the boat when he walked straight into the boom. There was a load knocking noise as his head hit it - he was fine but it was quite comical.
This is a picture from our room at the Petasos Beach Hotel in Mykonos. We took an early morning ferry from Athens to Mykonos and arrived around lunch time. 
The colors and sights of Mykonos were stunning - the sky would actually get brighter in Greece right around sunset as the setting sun produced a white lightness.
We did one day trip to Mykonos town and saw the famous windmills. It was a beautiful and relaxing 3 days.
All of my pictures from Mykonos are here.
We loved it- and TJ even said as we were leaving that he'd like to spend a few more days. "Come on, do we HAVE to go to the islands, with the beaches, and the swimming, and the lounging and the doing-nothing?" Yes, yes we do.
The Acropolis and Parthenon were striking. They had such a sense of history and place. One of my favorite memories of the trip was an early morning run up and around the Acropolis.
We found this funky wine and grappa bar there and had a nice long chat with an Australian woman traveling alone. No grappa for us.
We ate one night in a rooftop restaurant with views of the iluminated Acropolis. This began a twice daily partaking of a set standard: greek salad, tzadziki, bread, (yes bread, not a pita in sight,) and grilled cheese, (note to TJ- I tried multiple searches but could not find the name....I will leave this up to you and your superhuman browsing abilities.)
We were told that our neighborhood was a bit shaddy, and run down - what they didn't mention, and we discovered during our last night, was that it was as we'd say 'up and coming' and just our style. We found these fantastic back streets with outdoor cafes, packed restaurants and a fantastic locals feel. Even the 'minibar' pictured above was fabulous - just as you can guess, all the alcohol was packaged in min-bottles like on a plane and all positioned in front of a stark modern white background. Very fun....alas we'll have to go back!
and in our own neighborhood (Wells Tavern) by the Heath for dinner where we saw Stephen Merchant
All in all it was a great visit - and a bunch of fun to be able to explore two cities in 5 days with buddies from SF (now CT).
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