Winging it

With so much attention directed to the recent meteoric rise in the price of eggs, AGMA feels as if a very important sector of the poultry industry is being all but ignored right now.

The lowly wing, to be specific.

Sure, wings vault up in American consciousness around the big Super football game in February. You know – the game where the refs increasingly are getting to decide who wins…

Ouch.

According to TheHill.com on 2/9/23, “Experts estimate that 1.45 billion chicken wings will be consumed during Super Bowl weekend.”

This brings to mind two questions:

1. How do you become an “expert” in chicken wing consumption statistics? This could be a new career path for AGMA.
2. If there can be that many chickens who are sacrificed on the alter of gratuitous snacking, why the hell are eggs so expensive?

FYI, Cal-Maine Foods is the largest egg producer in the US. In the last quarter of 2022, they profits increased 110% over the last quarter of 2021. Read about it here.

Oh… Now I get why eggs prices have literally doubled in recent months.

And I was naive enough to think the devastating avian flu, that’s killed more than 50 million chickens in the last 6 months, was the culprit.

Silly AGMA!

Hubs and I do love our chicken wings.

We moved to Chicago in July 2020. This is when hunt for great chicken wings in Chicago began. (Actually, it was closer to later in 2021 after Chicago lifted most restrictions on dining due to COVID.)

Now, one might say, “AGMA, Chicago is an amazing city to find incredible food. It has some of the best restaurants in the world and is always on the cutting edge of new food trends. Surely, you can find great chicken wings in one of the largest cities in the US!”

One might say…

Yes to the amazing city, incredible food, best restaurants, and cutting edge parts.

But great chicken wings…meh. (And don’t EVEN dare to mention Buffalo Wild Wings. I’m not sure what mutant creature they use for their wings, but I’m pretty sure it’s not a chicken.)

Yes – one can find good chicken wings in Chicago, but they are one-offs. A sort of afterthought on most menus. By that I mean, they are not one of showcased culinary items in most eating establishments that serve wings.

And truly great chicken wings deserve to be the star!

Food establishments with good wings listed on Chicago foodie sites usually list restaurants that have one specific kind of wing. Korean lollypop wings at one place, smoked wings with dry rub at another, still another has crispy wings with 4 sauce choices.

Big whoop.

In Atlanta, we were semi-regulars at a local sports bar chain called Taco Mac.

Despite the name (confusing…), their speciality is really great, world class chicken wings. I mean, their home page declares “WORLD FAMOUS WINGS” and “The world’s finest wings never see the freezer.”

Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!

And beer. They have a mind boggling beer selection. When I say that they have literally hundreds of beers (draft, can, & bottle) on their menu, this is no exaggeration. AGMA has yet, in all of her travels, to find a beer selection like Taco Macs.

They even have a Brewniversity.

You start out as a Freshman and move up levels based on how many different beers you try there. There are 14 levels going all the way to Gold Beer God. They have all kinds of perks as you move on in your beer matriculation. And there’s some pretty sweet swag you can get with Brewniversity points.

I’m proud (maybe? Should I be?) to say that Son#2, who lives in Atlanta, is at the Dean level. Or possibly Chancellor.

That’s my boy.

So right now, thinking about Taco Mac is making AGMA’s mouth water.

You can order wings one of 3 ways: original (normal deep fried wings), oven roasted, and boneless (deep fried).

Then comes the sauce choice – and this is where things REALLY get good! They have 15 sauces you can chose from and 2 dry rubs.

Yeah baby!

AGMA’s favorites are Asian Sweet Heat, Parmesan Garlic and Peach Bourbon BBQ.

It’s become a tradition to go to Taco Mac the first night when we visit Son#2. He likes heat, so Cajun Voodoo Magic, Three Mile Island, and Habanero BBQ are his favs. Hubs is more traditional…Medium Buffalo and BBQ Sauce

So a typical order for the AGMA family is:

1. 20 wings
2. Double roasted (to make them more chrispy)
3. Asian Sweet Heat, Medium Buffalo, Habanero BBQ, and BBQ sauce (or Honey Chipotle if Hubs opts for a burger).
4. Swimming (this adds extra sauce to each section)

Add lots of celery and blue cheese/ranch dressing.

Poultry heaven.

We were hopeful last week when we traveled 25 minutes to the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago to try Badabing Wings. Based on their website, it looked like it had the potential to ease our CYWD (chronic yummy wing deficiency) condition.

Badabing Wings.

Yeah – they have reruns of The Sopranos on their one TV, and the walls are plastered with photos of Al Capone (with the Blues Brothers thrown in for good measure.)

Of course.

And it was really good! No option for roasted wings, but with 17 sauce flavors, and plump, juicy wings, it was a hit with us. The only funky thing was the weird, gummy (??) blue cheese dressing. I can bring my own next time.

Badabing is a tiny place with only 5 tables. Clearly carry out is their bread and butter, but since it was close to Valentine Day, we opted for a romantic evening with Tony Soprano.

Even better, we overheard the owner talking about expanding his space!

Trust me, we won’t fughettaboutit. This is our now our go to place in the Windy City for wings!

AGMA knows ya’ll are thrilled for us…

It needs to be noted that, since I live in the Chicago city limits, I’ve pretty much confined my hunt for great chicken wings to the city of Chicago.

Perhaps AGMA should broaden my horizons and start looking for wing places in the ‘burbs. The commute to get out there only ranges from 30 to 90 minutes (depending on the ‘burb.)

I think I might have too much time on my hands these days.

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A mark, a buck, a yen or a pound…

To say AGMA has been irregular in posting on WP for the last almost 3 years is a bit of an understatement. Okay – a serious understatement.

Unless I was traveling, I was pretty much a once-a-week blogger before 2020.

Then COVID-19 reared it’s ugly spikes, and life changed. For everybody. It pretty much got turned on its head and kicked in the ass. Then to top it off, we decided to sell our home & move to Chicago in the summer of 2020.

Since then, if I blogged every 1 to 2 months, I was killing it!

Sad.

But I’m REALLY trying to get back into the swing of posting more often.

If I can figure out what to write about.

So AGMA is now settled at a table in my ‘muse’ coffee shop in Chicago. I managed to score a table near an outlet which is major since my laptop battery now craps out after about 30 minutes. I got my yummy mocha and am warm (a major concern for me since moving to Chicago.)

When I signed onto WP just a bit ago, I had no idea what I was going to write about. But inspiration comes from strange places.

I saw the following on my WP main screen:

“Make money from your website

Sell just about anything to your visitors — physical items, digital downloads, memberships, exclusive content, and more.

Start making money“

Sadly (for this lefty snowflake socialist, at least), life in the USA has always been heavily influenced by those who worship of the (perceived) almighty $dollar$. But not as bad as now.

It seems as if, in the past couple of years, the notion of monetizing absolutely everything has spread as rapidly as COVID.

(I left the WP link active in case YOU want to learn how to make money from your website. You can thank me later.)

Well…AGMA definitely does not want to be left out of this mad scramble for riches!

I’m certain that I can have the Midas touch like that infamous space Karen, Elongated Muskcrat, former richest person in the world and the new owner of Twitter. Otherwise known as Dumpster Fire, Adolph Twitler, Chief Twit, Apartheid Clyde, and Elmo (a fond nickname lovingly given to him by his decimated Twitter staff.). Elon, you crazy guy, you!

So I think I’ll start trying to make money from my website per WP’s timely suggestion. I just need to get a website first.

Details, details…

I have a blog. That should be able to pull in some clams, right? And AGMA feels certain I can sell things on it – physical and otherwise.

I’ve got a bunch of sh*t in my basement from when I was selling highly desirable, 2nd hand, vintage ‘collectibles’ on Ebay. Guaranteed to make your friends, family, and neighbors turn green with envy. And jealousy.

Physical items – check.

How about some NFT’s? Like the ones TFG sold to his incredibly gullible minions that were sad rip-offs from copyrighted images on the internet. Read about it here. I can steal stuff off the internet as well as the next person and paste my face over other faces.

Digital downloads – check.

Did you know that I’m is starting an AGMA fan club? For the small sum of $100, you can receive a signed print of the famous AGMA logo (proudly stolen off the internet) AND clippings of my luxuriant salt n pepper tresses. For an extra $20, I can throw in some nail clippings.

Memberships – check.

And of course, everything on AGMA is exclusive content! All I have to do is create a paywall, and for a small donation of $25 per view, you can read the wit, wisdom, and shenanigans of the lovable, but crusty senior influencer that has everybody raving on social media.

Exclusive content – check.

All I have to do is wait for the $$ to start pouring in…

Cause ya’ll will buy and believe just about anything on the Internet, right?

Right…

(Not really – that’s why I love you! Happy Valentines Day my friends!)

Aging gracefully my ass

AGMA didn’t watch the Grammys on Sunday, but it was hard to avoid the reactions on social media about Madonna’s new look.

Even for us non-Madonna fans.

I used to be a bit judgmental (AGMA? Judgemental?  What? ) about folks who chose to have surgery/botox/fillers/and whatever the hell is out there to try to help them reclaim their youth.  Now that AGMA is a bit older (a bit??) and wiser (marginally), I’m more like, “Whatever floats your boat.” 

Quite honestly, I was somewhat shocked when I Googled Madonna and found out she was 64.  When did that happen?  I mean, wasn’t it just a few years ago that she was wearing that white teddy thing singing Like a Virgin?  Or wearing that bra made out of tin funnels?

What the heck??

Hubs and I watched Top Gun: Maverick not too long ago.  I Googled Tom Cruise and found out he’s going to be 61 this year.  What??  I’m sure he’s had some ‘work’ done, but it’s been really good. ’cause he looks really great ‘for his age’.

Then I Googled Kelly McGillis, Tom’s Top Gun co-star back in 1986.  She’s 65 now (what??) and has aged ‘naturally’.

Like AGMA. 

She gave an interview while Top Gun: Maverick was in development back in 2019, and said that she did not expect a call to reprise her 1986 character, Charlie.  She said, “I mean, I’m old and I’m fat, and I look age-appropriate for what my age is, and that is not what that whole scene is about.”

Preach it Kelly.

Brad Pitt turns 60 this year.  Meg Ryan, George Clooney, and Barack Obama are 61.  Tom Hanks is 66, Opie/Richie (Ron Howard) is going to be 69 in a few weeks.  Oprah is 69.  And Laverne, Shirley & Squiggy have all passed away.

When did that all happen??

Clearly, I need to step away from the Google.

AGMA listens to songs on the Sirius 70’s channel and is hard pressed to believe that they are soon to be 50 years old (if not already.)  Songs that seem like they are not more than 25 or so years old.  When I was in my 20’s, music that was 50 years old was from the 1920’s.

Ancient.

All of a sudden, I’ve become conscious of the light speed passing of time.  I mean like faster than light speed.

AGMA was 42 just a few years ago (I’m pretty sure it was only a few years ago…) and now I’m knocking on the door of 70.  

It leaves me breathless.

When people tell Son#1 (now 40) how fast his kids will grow up, he says he knows and he’s heard, “The days are long, but the years are short.”  But he has no idea how short.

I know I didn’t at that age.

How do you tell a Millennial to make the most of the days, weeks, months and years ahead?  That in the blink of any eye, they will be in their 60’s. And not to have regrets when they look back?  And that the time with their children living at home is breathtakingly short?

On a positive note (and I think we need one right about now…), AGMA was in Tucson, AZ last week with Hubs. 

We met there in 1973 when we were in college at the University of Arizona.  50 years ago.  What??

Ugh – there I go again!

But we were in a local watering hole there one night, watching the U of A Wildcat men’s basketball team trounce Oregon State  (Bear Down!)  I struck up a conversation with the woman next to me who was from Dallas.  When AGMA told her that I spent my first 2 years of college at TCU in Ft Worth, she told me that she went to SMU, and that we probably were in college at the same time.  “No way,” I thought, “She looks way younger than me”.  I smiled and told her went to TCU in 1971.  She said, “Okay, we’re 10 years apart.  I went to college in 1981.  You look really young.”

So I got that going for me.

But looking young (weather naturally or assisted) is vastly different from being young.

Vastly.

And that’s what makes Madonna’s new look sort of sad.  She’s not young no matter how much work she’s had done or how many braids she has or how much skin she shows.  None of us can turn the clock back no matter how desperately we want a do over.  And when folks try to look/act like they are in their 20’s when they are in their 60’s, it’s just…kinda sorry.

Is AGMA getting judgmental again?

I just checked (on the Google again!) to see if she was a grandmother yet.  When I started to type, ‘Is Madonna…”, Google filled in ‘…still alive”

That’s harsh.  But realistic.

(And for the curious, no, she’s not a grandma yet.)

Because of the title, AGMA just had to read a Time article published yesterday called “Madonna’s Face and the Myth of Aging Gracefully”   You can read it here.

Aging Gracefully My Ass…

Eataly vs Italy

AGMA loves to eat.

This was not a problem when I was young, and chasing after two active boys and working and volunteering and exercising and cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc.

You know – basically being the suburban superwoman superhero of mythical lore.

And I did it very well thank you very much. Sort of. Kind of.

Now that I have a “more leisurely” lifestyle, and since we were confined to the house for almost a year because of COVID, the eating hasn’t gone so well. Or maybe has gone too well. AGMA continued to eat. But without all of the other superwoman superhero activities of the past. And I can’t really running anymore (due to a variety of reasons) which was a YUGE factor in my ‘later in life’ weight control strategy.

20 pounds later, I’ve had to buy slightly larger clothes to fit my Ruben-esque frame. Yes, I AM cute and cuddly, but those extra 20 are a total drag.

AGMA is certain I could lose weight if I didn’t travel so often. I’ll get a start on eating healthier and exercising more, and then – BOOM! I go to France or Italy or Greece. Places that have some of the most delicious food in the world.

Seriously, a total first world problem. Or is it even a problem at all?

It doesn’t escape my notice that these countries are known for their healthy foods (the Mediterranean diet and all that) and active lifestyles. And a serious lack of Ruben-esque women. But I feel compelled to try all the different foods I can on a 2 week visit because there is just SO MUCH yummy stuff.

Honestly, AGMA is NOT going to eat salads for two weeks when there is cacio e pepe, gelato to die for, spaghetti carbonara, porchetta sandwiches, suppli & fried artichokes. To name a few.

I’m pretty sure something like that could be against the law.

I planned a birthday trip to Italy with an old friend for January 2022. This was going to be her first visit to Italy and she was pumped. But the Omicron variant was running rampant in Europe.

Damn.

We were (and are) both fully vax-ed and boosted (and neither one of us had the shakes or ‘died suddenly’ – it’s a miracle!), so we weren’t too concerned about getting really sick if we got COVID. But at that time, the US was still requiring a negative COVID test to re-enter the US. Spending a week quarantined in a less than desirable COVID hotel in Italy at our own expense if we did test positive didn’t sound like fun.

So we cancelled the trip.

Damn.

But my friend, being who she is, drove 6 hours last January to take me out for an Italian birthday dinner at Eataly in downtown Chicago. We had a wonderful dinner and a delightful visit.

What a gal!

Fast forward 12 months. The US isn’t requiring COVID tests to re-enter anymore. We both got our 2022 boosters (still no uncontrollable shaking or ‘sudden death’…) And I still have a birthday in January.

Time to get out the ole passport again and go to Italy (NOT Eataly!)

We left on January 4th and visited Venice first.

How is there even a city like Venice on the planet?

Simply stunning.

This was technically my 4th visit to Venice, but each visit has been very short. In 1976, I stayed 2 nights. I think. I barely remember. In 2008, Hubs and I went for 3 nights. In 2012, I was there for 1 night (long story to that one involving a woman we called Crazy Judy… I really don’t count this visit).

So AGMA was definitely ready to explore more of Venice.

I have to put in a word for traveling to Italy in early January…. The weather isn’t too bad – it was in the 40’s in Venice and in the 50’s in Rome. And hotel/Airbnb prices are almost half the cost of high season. In Venice, we stayed in a lovely hotel (breakfast included) that was 5 minutes from the Rialto Bridge and 5 minutes to St Marks Square, for around $86 a night.

Aside from the weather & cost, most of the Christmas decorations are still up which made Venice appear more magical than it already is!

And every church, all over Italy, puts up a creche for Christmas that stays up for a good part of January. Most of the creches have the baby Jesus born in an Italian village complete with butchers, farmers, ladies doing the wash, people milking cows, bakers baking bread. You get the idea.

It’s charming.

We said a very reluctant goodbye to Venice after 3 nights and took the train (the ONLY way to travel in Italy!!) to Rome.

Ah…Rome…. AGMA goes back and forth as to which is my favorite European city – Paris or Rome. Because I was in Rome this trip, it was Rome!

We stayed in a fantastic Airbnb very close to Piazza Navona in the center of Rome. A lucky (for us) mistake by our Airbnb hosts on the property we initially booked lead them to letting us book this apartment for a much lower rate than they normally charge. It was on the ground floor, literally 10 seconds from a street with great restaurants, and a 3 minute walk to Piazza Navona. The apartment was 2 levels with a full bath on each level. AGMA slept on the 1st level on a very comfy sofa bed, and my friend slept in the bedroom on the 2nd level. By Rome hotel standards, it was huge! We paid $70 a night. However, the “normal” winter rate at $100 a night is still an incredible bargain for the size, amenities and location, location, location!!

AGMA’s birthday was the day after we got to Rome. We did a Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel/St. Peters tour in the morning and met a delightful young South African woman (living in Switzerland) on holiday. She was young enough to be one of our daughters, but she had one of those amazing personalities that just loves people, no matter their age. She hung around with us after the tour and joined us for my birthday late lunch/early dinner at a little restaurant close to our Airbnb. We celebrated with spritzs and spaghetti carbonara, and the staff, and a group of Italian students eating there serenaded me with Happy Birthday in Italian.

Eataly, you were good, but come in a pale second to my 2023 birthday dinner!

Italy wins!

Holy Krampus, Batman!

We watched the Krampus Run in Munich and it was quite surreal! Krampus and his minions are like the anti-Santa Claus; they punish bad children by beating them with brush brooms. Yikes!!

I could just start writing, ignoring the fact that AGMA hasn’t posted anything for nearly 2 (ouch) months.  Or I can be chill about it, casually bringing it up and saying,”Time flies when you’re having fun.”  And while I have indeed been having fun for part of the time, it hasn’t been all unicorns and rainbows.

But mostly it has…

AGMA’s last post was pictures of Hubs and my trip to France in October.  I posted it while I was flying to Germany for a Christmas markets tour.  And I just got back last Friday from Italy.

Italy???

Wait, what?

I’ve been telling people that perhaps I got a bit too enthusiastic about traveling in the post-COVID vaccine/booster world.  3 international trips in 3 months.

Ya think?

We also went to Atlanta over Thanksgiving to spend with Son#2.  Oh – and I had to squeeze Christmas and 2 family birthdays in between trips to the airport.  No stress associated with all of that…

First world problems.

But Germany was great!  

AGMA did an Alpine Christmas market tour with Hubs in 2015.  Hub’s attitude is that, if you’ve seen one German Christmas market, you’ve seen them all.  Not true!   There are subtle differences for the discriminating shopper…. 

So I traveled with a friend from Kansas City. She’s a discriminating shopper. 

Traveling with friends is a dicey prospect.  AGMA always says, “You really don’t know a friend until you travel with them.”  It’s like Forrest Gump says, “Travel with a friend is like a box of chocolates.  Sometimes you get you get the one with the marmite filling.”  

Luckily, I was pretty sure that K would be a good travel companion.  We met on a tour of South Africa in 2016.  And she and her hubs went with us on a 2 week trip around France organized by AGMA Travel LLC in 2019.  Plus we have visited each other in our respective cities.  I was pretty sure that we’d be good travel companions.

She is the chocolate with the salted carmel filling.

It’s been 5 years since AGMA was on an organized tour.  Since Hubs needs to travel with a mobility scooter now, he’s not able to go on most organized tours.  They specifically exclude folks with mobility devices unless you book through an accessible tour company.  And their rates are beyond what we think is reasonable, so we’ve been doing tours through AGMA Travel LLC since 2016.  

The great thing about self designed tours is that you can sleep in a bit most mornings.  AGMA likes that. 

ZZzzzzz…

But nah baby nah with our organized tour through Gate1 Travel.  We were up most mornings at 6 or 6:30.  And we didn’t really get to bed until after 11 PM at night.  

We both travelled light and just took carry-ons.  Best purchases for this trip – merino wool long underwear and sock liners – they were life savers for this cold natured AGMA.  Cuz It was chilly.  It snowed in Berlin on our first full day and also in Munich at the end of our trip.  

And that was good since we basically spent about 80% of our waking hours outside.  On walking tours, at the Christmas Markets, walking to restaurants & sights, etc. 

Lest you say, “AGMA, that sounds miserable!”, it really wasn’t bad.  

Really.

You just drank a lot of glühwein (the unofficial “official” drink of the European Christmas Market) and it warmed you right up!

Hic….

The tour started in Berlin, then went to Dresden, Nuremberg (with a side trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber) and ended up in Munich.  K & I extended our trip 3 extra nights and took a side trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, then did a bit more touring in Munich before heading home on Dec 12 to be immersed in Christmas hysteria.

Highlights of the trip – the Penck (penis) hotel, the Krampus Run (more like a stroll) in Munich, our Munich Beer Tour, Neuschwanstein Castle, feuerzangenbowle (flaming wine punch), and the beautiful Christmas Markets at night. Oooo ahhhh…

So without further ado, a tiny selection of AGMA’s fav photos!

Top left & top two right are Berlin. Last two are Dresden.

Top two left & top right is the Dresden Green Treasury. Bottom two left are the Dresden Markets at night. And bottom right was the artwork in the Penck (penis) hotel. The artist was named Penck and so he decided to put pencks in most of his art!

Top left is the Palace of Justice where the Nuremberg trials were held. Bottom two left are Rothenberg. The rest are Nuremberg Christmas market pictures.

The Munich town hall at night and in the day, and the Hofbrau Haus. The bottom two are at the Munich Medieval Christmas market.

Top two are in the town of Füssen, near the Neuschwanstein Castle. See our flaming punch! It snowed and with low clouds so the castle was difficult to see. We did the Hofbrau Haus and the Oktoberfest Museum on the beer tour. Bottom two are random Munich pictures.

And more flying…

Bordeaux

So I figure I’d better get this post done ASAP because I’m flying again.

Like in the air right now.  Free wifi on airplanes is a beautiful thing.

After AGMA gets to Newark, I hop on a plane headed to Berlin.  After not visiting Berlin for 46 years, this will be my second visit in 2022.

I think I’m in love…

But before I land in Deutschland, AGMA needs to get a France post posted!

In October, Hubs & I spent 11 days in France.  Again.  In case you haven’t caught on yet, we love France.

This was a partial redo of a trip I had planned for July 2020.  And we all know how 2020 worked out for everybody…

We started out with 3 days in the city of Bordeaux.  We have been to the Bordeaux region before (St. Emilion & Paulliac), but never the city. 

Once a rather grim town full of dock workers (according to what I’ve read), Bordeaux has experienced a rebirth of sorts in the last decade. Even Rick Steves likes it now.

We rarely buy those city passes in European cities we visit because, most of the time, we don’t feel we would get the value out them.  We did, however, buy 48 hour Bordeaux City Pass. It’s a great deal mostly because it includes the fabulous Cite de Vin, a homage to all things wine related, and all forms of public transit (which is easy peasy to navigate and very accessible for people using mobility devices.)

Bordeaux is synonymous with wine.  Wine built the city, and wine continues to be Queen (of King depending…)  We did the vineyard visits on our other 2 trips to the area, so a visit to Cite de Vin was a must.

The old town of Bordeaux is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.  That basically means old, pretty buildings with fascinating histories!  And Bordeaux was full of them.

After our stay in Bordeaux, picked up a rental car at the Bordeaux train station, and headed east.  Destination – the Dordogne River valley (also called the Perigord.)

We visited this area briefly in 2019. Then, in late 2019 after we got home, Hubs & I started listening to a series of audiobooks about a chief of police, Bruno Courrèges, in a fictional town in the Perigord. Author Martin Walker, an expat Brit who splits his time between the US & the Perigord, absolutely makes his readers want to visit the Dordogne area with his vivid descriptions of the food, the wine, the scenery & the history of the area.

So we did!

Based in Sarlat-la-Canéda for 6 nights, we thought we’d have plenty of time to see everything.

Nah baby nah…

There is SO much to see – we could have stayed for another month!  AGMA is saying a lot (because there are just so many beautiful, interesting parts of France) when I say this just my be my favorite part of France.

Yeah – that’s right – I said it…

I could start with the plethora of caves with prehistoric art.  Ranging from 12,000 to 36,000 years (that’s right – 36,000!) old, it’s thrilling to see the art left behind by our ancient ancestors.

Lascaux, the most famous cave, has been off limits to visitors since 1961 because of the fragile nature of the paintings, due to “over touristing” in the 1950s.  So, of course, they built a complete replica of cave for people to visit, Lascaux IV.  You have to look up Lascaux II & III…

Let’s fly

Paris!

Yes… AGMA lives!

I think this is the longest I have have gone without posting.  Sorry ‘bout that!

It’s been all travel all the time at Casa AGMA!  Going on trips, booking trips, planning trips…. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

Oh – and I chopped my hair off and got a new tattoo, but that’s another post.  (FYI, I LOVE my new ink!)

Hubs and I went to France last month.  We flew there, of course.

Thank you Orville & Wilbur!

For some reason, on the flight to Paris, I starting thinking about AGMA’s flying history. 

My first plane ride was around 1962 or 1963.  My mother, sister and I went to Miami on vacation.  We took a train from Pittsburgh to Miami.  I don’t remember much about it other than I got sick during the trip.

I’m not sure if it was me getting sick or whether my mother had planned it all along, but we flew home.  I was ecstatic!  I was really one of the first of my friends to have actually flown on an airplane.

And that was really the start of AGMA’s love of travel!

My father used to fly quite a bit in the 50’s & 60’s for his job.  My brother (12 years my senior) fell in love with airplanes as a child in the 40’s, and it is a love that has lasted his entire life.  He wanted to be a commercial pilot, but his poor eyesight was a deal breaker for that dream.  However, did go on to get his private pilot’s license.

He never owned an airplane, but belonged to a flying club.  Through the club, he was able to rent a plane to fly he and his family for long weekend trips.  Once in the late 80s, they flew to visit us in Cincinnati. We went out to the community airport to look at the plane.  OMG it was SOOOOO incredibly tiny!  Literally just room for the 4 of them. 

 If they all inhaled.

Seriously, you could not give me enough money to fly in such a itty bitty plane!  Regional jets even give AGMA the willies…

As a teenager, my friends and I used to go out to the old Pittsburgh airport to watch planes take off and land. 

Things were slow back then before social media….

We used to bon voyage people at their gate and greet people coming into the airport after landing.  This was in the “olden days” when there was no TSA, no security screening, no rules about who could be at a gate.  Back when there was a TWA, Eastern Airlines, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Braniff Airlines PanAM, Allegheny Airlines.  There were so many more airline options back in the day!

My sister (6 years older) did her senior year of college in England.  After she graduated here in the US in 1969, she went back to Europe for a year.  She worked and traveled during the heyday of “Europe on $5 a Day” times!  Her experiences only inflamed AGMA’s passion for travel. 

Oh myyyyyyy!

Because I went to college out west in the early 70’s, AGMA used to fly home for the holidays.  And boy, did I think I was grown up and sophisticated flying by myself. Of course I was – NOT.  This was also the era of student discounts and flying student stand-by as so it was pretty dang cheap to fly.  These things, of course, have gone the way of the John McCain type Republican in Florida.

AGMA’s first trip across the pond was in 1973.  I took a class on Ancient Greek Civilization, and part of the class was a trip to Greece.  Sweet!  My mother had died in 1965 at 48, and left a small college trust fund for my sister and I.  I was able to pay for the trip from that trust fund because it was associated with a class I was taking. 

Thank you Mum! But honestly, I would have rather had you in my life for 40 years more years than I did.

AGMA has been truly blessed in her travel life, and since 1973 there have been many, many trips on flying machines.  

Having moved so much, and with friends and family flung all over the US, AGMA has and continues to fly a whole lot domestically.  But since the late 2000’s, there have been lots of international trips as well.

But lately, methinks AGMA may have gone a bit too far.  

After a 14 month hiatus from international travel from March 2020 to July 2021 (f*ck you COVID), I think I’m over compensating…. France in July 2021; Iceland, France & Ireland in Sept/Oct 2021; England, Germany & Portugal in March 2022; Greece in May 2022; France last month.

But that really doesn’t compare with the trips coming up.

I’ll report on my adventures as I come back, so no details right now, but AGMA is going on not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 international trips in the next 9 months.

I’m really not sure what has come over me.

Could be, I see the hand writing on the wall.  Hubs PLS is getting worse by the month.  In a year or two or three, he will be in a wheelchair full time.  And that will make traveling the way we have done in the past do far more complicated.  And expensive.  

But life is definitely a journey and I’m up for the trip.  

Next year will be 50 years since I first laid eyes on that handsome jamoke with the cute booty.  And last month in France, we celebrated 45 years of ‘flying’ together in matrimony.  We’ve flown through a lifetime of challenges together and done pretty well.  I’m guessing that this next phase of the flight will work out okay too.

So stay tuned, and come fly with AGMA as we head full throttle into the future!

Next up: a report on our trip to Bordeaux and the Dordogne!  Maybe… Yikes!

Get rid of it!

The ‘it’

My blogging friend, Ilona over at Rainy Day Writing, has an AGMA-esque sense of humor.  Or maybe AGMA has an Ilona-esque sense of humor? Whatever…

She posted a really funny piece a few weeks ago called Mantras for Old Age.  You can read it here.

One of my favorites is her Better Pee First mantra.  Tell the truth, shame the devil – those of you of a certain age know what she’s talking about…

AGMA needed to recite that mantra this past weekend.

Specifically, Saturday evening.  But didn’t.

That was the day AGMA had my High Noon showdown. 

We live in the city limits of Chicago, but have our share of wildlife.  There are signs in the alleys about not leaving trash around for the rats to eat.  So there are rats. Thankfully, AGMA’s never seen one.  And my neighbor had a small snake in her yard.  There was even a coyote wandering down the railroad tracks behind our house this spring.

Because there’s a buffer of trees between the alley behind our house and railroad track (it’s a spur line that is only used several times a week by an 6 car train), we have a plethora of perky, pesky squirrels literally hanging around.

Last summer, a squirrel, let’s call it Pitas (pain in the ass squirrel), would come up on our deck in the wee hours of the morning and dig in my tomato plant planter.  When AGMA opened the blinds in the morning, dirt was scattered all around the planter. 

As the summer wore on, Pitas got bolder.  It started picking MY cherry tomatoes and eating them.  Oh, the humanity!

When Pitas got bored with a diet of partially consumed cherry tomatoes, he/she ordered carry-out.  I found a half eaten piece of pizza, a partial bagel, and bits of bread on our deck at different points in the summer.

AGMA’s grateful Pitas got to them before the rats.

Bouyed by his/her foraging success last year, Pitas returned this summer.  At least I think it’s Pitas…

No longer operating under the cover of darkness, it staked its claim on our deck by boldly walking around in light of day.  

Our cat, Max, is quite interested in looking out the large sliding glass door at Pitas.   Max walks up to the window every morning in anticipation of seeing his rodent buddy.

And I think Pitas is interested in Max.  So interested that it started literally hanging on our screen door to look inside the house.  At Max.  And sometimes Gus.

“Wanna come out and play?”

Sometimes when AGMA goes out on the deck, Pitas flops down on the deck railing or steps, and just watches me.  It’s like he/she’s plotting something.

Pitas in front of ‘the chair’ staring at me

Kiinda creepy.

All this is to say, this is one ballsy squirrel who, like honey badger, doesn’t give a sh*t. And apparently isn’t afraid of too much.

But AGMA’s discovered a chink in Pitas’ armor. It’s not at all fond of getting squirted with the hose. 

Fast forward to Saturday evening when my DIL, grandchildren V & T, and AGMA were sitting on the upper deck.

Pitas startled us by crawling up onto our deck from our nice neighbors deck.  My DIL tried to chase him/her away but it held its ground.  She tried again.  Again, Pitas stayed anchored to its spot.

I explained that “our” squirrel was very bold and not easily chased away.

After a third time, Pitas scurried behind my chair.  Thinking he/she may have scampered down to the ground or hopped back onto our nice neighbors deck, I peeked behind the chair

Before I continue, AGMA needs to let you know that my DIL does not like animals at all.  She is kind of terrified of them.  Especially in the ‘wild’.

This is key to understanding what happened next…

“He’s still here…I see his tail,” I said.

Just about then Pitas popped its head up over the back of the chair and stared at us.

My DIL then proceeded to scream bloody murder, and we all ran down the stairs to the main deck.

I was laughing so hard, I could barely breathe.  

It was at that point that AGMA regretted not doing the Better Pee First mantra.  I won’t make that mistake again…. Ugh.

Five minutes later, after a quick change, I was in the kitchen filling up a pitcher. 

AGMA’s battle plan was to spritz him with water until he ran away.

My DIL, 5 year old granddaughter, 3 year old grandson and I slowly went back up the stairs to the upper deck with AGMA in the lead carrying the water pitcher.  Pitas was now on top of the back of my chair. 

Squirrel scene in Christmas Vacation minus the Christmas tree and dog, right?

It jumped down on the chair cushion which sent my DIL flying down the steps and back into the house, leaving her 2 young children and myself out on the deck at the mercy of arch villian, Pitas. 

Evidently it was every man for himself.

But V soon followed her mother into the house, and she called to little T, to follow her (which he did.) 

It was just AGMA (the squirrel hunter), Pitas, and the water pitcher.

In my mind, I heard Tex Ritter singing, “Do not forsake me, oh my darling.”

So this was how it was going to end…

I managed to spritz him/her and get it off the deck.  But Pitas decided to hang around on nice neighbor’s deck ledge. He/she was trying to wait me out.  

Nah baby nah – AGMA dumped the whole pitcher on the little a-hole.

Unbeknownst (is this a word?) to me, my DIL was videoing our shoot out at the AGMA-OK Corral from the kitchen window.

When she sent me the video, I lost it again and started laughing uncontrollably.

It starts out with the 3 year old screaming through the window, “Nana, get rid of it!”

Priceless!

Yesterday, I got the brilliant idea of checking our Ring camera video to see if it captured any of our Keystone Cops antics.

Sure enough, I got us all running down the stairs after Pitas popped his/her head up behind the chair, and AGMA running into the house howling with laughter.

The second video captured my DIL flying down the stairs and directly into the house (when Pitas was advancing on me.)  And leaving her children to fend for themselves. 

It’s hysterical.

Since I started writing this, I’ve broken down into fits of laughter multiple times.

Fortunately, AGMA did my Better Pee First mantra before I started typing.

TMI right?

Things I hate

Ewwww… I hate starting starting a post about hate that has hate in the title.

Hate is such an incredibly strong and powerful word.

And AGMA has tried to use it sparingly in my life because it conveys such bigly negative feelings and emotions.

But I’ll have to confess that I have used it to describe my feelings more in the last six years than at any other period of my life.

I think hating people is very iffy….   To AGMA, it implies that that the object of this strong emotion has absolutely zero redeeming qualities and is basically an evil person intent on inflicting as much damage in the world as possible. Up until six years ago, I can’t say that I ever used ‘hate’ to describe my feelings toward another human.  

But now it seems as if there are a number of people (an alarmingly large number) in the news cycle who definitely live up to (or down to) my definition.

Lock ’em up!

So leaving people out of the mix, here are some of the things that AGMA hates…

1.  Single-ply toilet paper

Seriously, do I need to explain this?

2.   Speed bumps (humps) 

More specifically, Chicago speed bumps.

I’ve lived 18 months or longer in 6 different cities during my lifetime before moving to Chicago.  Most have used speed bumps to slow down speeders.  But nothing, absolutely NOTHING, has prepared me for Chicago’s mountainous speed bumps. 

They are BRUTAL.

Incredibly high and often camaflogued in mottled sunlight during the summer, they can do a number on your car. 

The City paints white stripes on them to alert people of the perils ahead, but after a few Chicago winters, most fade to almost nothing.

So…surprise! Your car has now suddenly become airborne.

We’ve started naming the worst of them.

FrameBender is close to my son’s house, and bears the scars of those who have taken it on and lost.  We slowly pass over it with a reverent respect having had some close calls with it in the past.

AxelBreaker is no too far from our house close to a Starbucks with a small parking lot AND a drive-thru (which is rare and coveted in the city.)   This was the one that I hit at 25 mph and felt like my entire spine got shoved up into my brain. Thankfully, neither Peaches (my car) or I was critically injured.

3.  Reading about people my age or younger dying of “natural causes”.

 WTF???  That’s just plain wrong.

4.  Living next to a MAGA cult member.

He not only drinks the cult Kool-aid, but he drinks copious amounts of adult beverages as well.  This is not a good combination.  

He’s constantly trying to own his liberal snowflake neighbors (us) by playing domestic terrorist cult talk shows on high volume on his radio on his deck.  The fact that we live in townhomes, and our decks are only 6 inches apart makes this an interesting situation.  My question is, who owns a portable radio these days?? 

But AGMA gets that he wants to turn the clock back to the 1960’s so I guess that makes sense.

He waters his wife’s plants hanging on the edge of his deck and can never seem to not end up covering our deck with water.  I’m guessing he doesn’t realize that the deck gets rained on on a fairly regular basis, and the water will eventually evaporate.  Plus, he is actually watering some of my plants as well.

Score!

After several months of no signage bliss because he got into big trouble with our HOA for posting MAGA cult signs using foul language on the community’s fence, he’s back to posting signs again.  This time in the front of his yard, as close to our property as possible.  I appears as if he has a yuge man crush on Merritt Garland. His sign indicated he wants to have sexual relations (f*ck) with him.  The HOA took it down.

Hubs and I wonder where he was on January 6, 2021….

5.  Primary Lateral Scoliosis (PLS)

This is the diagnosis for Hubs as he continues to lose the use of his right leg, and is starting to lose functionality in the left as well.  He has walkers on each floor of our house (2) and we recently got one for Son#1’s house as well.  Hubs now has a severe S curve in his back causing him almost constant back pain.  He’s going to be evaluated soon to see if it is safe for him to continue drive (which he does rarely – AGMA drives most of the time.)  If was a betting woman (I am…), I’d say we’ll probably be putting hand controls in our cars in the near future.  And a stairlift up to our bedroom level.

It is what it is, and we deal with it.  We’re very thankful that it isn’t ALS and that he has no pain in his legs.  But if I stop to really think about how PLS has impacted both of our lives, and will impact our lives in the coming years, it brings tears to my eyes.

So I try not to think of it.

6.  COVID fragmentation

Pre-COVID, AGMA had my life semi-together.  Which was probably as good as it was going to get.

I loved my part-time job as a massage therapist, was part of a running group, had my fun little eBay business, was part of an Indivisible group helping to turn Georgia blue (yay Warnock and Ossoff!), blogged regularly, and had a pretty active social life.  

Since COVID became a thing, it’s kind of all gone to hell in a handbasket. 

Let me pause in my whining to say that none of my family or friends died or got horribly sick with COVID. In that I have been very, very fortunate.  And my intimate tango with COVID back in February was very mild thanks to the vaccine and boosters.  

But COVID has caused a serious disturbance in The AGMA Force. A speed bump of another sort…

Clearly, moving to Chicago during COVID had a major impact on our lives, and I lost all of my Atlanta connections.   But it’s been over 2 years now, and things for AGMA still continue to feel stagnant, disoriented, and ‘stuck’.   

It’s kind of obvious to ya’ll that I can’t get my blogging life geared up again. 

Duh.

I’ve been writing the very occasional post, but pre-COVID, I blogged every week.  And I would enjoy other people’s posts. And comment on them.  It’s been eons since I’ve done that.  I truly miss it (and ya’ll), but can’t seem to bring any focus or energy to it.

Or much of anything else.  

Except travel.  AGMA is still all about traveling.  But it kind of seems like it’s become more of an escape than anything else.  When I travel, I can put all that fragmented life stuff on the back burner, and don’t have think about it.  Or feel like I am living ‘less than’.

And yes, I do what some cheese with my whine please.

Actually, AGMA still loves her cycling (which, again, is a great escape.) And I adore living close to the grands and being a part of their lives – more than I can say.

So I guess it’s not all doom and gloom, but I sure would like to get my sh*t together after 2 1/2 years of internal and external chaos…

….said most everybody else in the world.

Travel goals

(AGMAniacs: This was written back in June with AGMA’s full intention of publishing it that day.  All I had to do was attach the pictures…  Clearly, that didn’t happen.  Typical.  But I wanted to give you the moment AGMA in June when I wrote it so I’m not going to edit it.  And it’s loooonnnggg. Opa!)

So yesterday it was 102 degrees.  Yeah – I know that it’s been hot all over the Southwest and South.  But I live in Chicago.

Holy sidewalk fried egg!

Today, it’s “cooled down” to 95.  Last week I was wearing jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a light hoodie over it.  I’m just so confused…

My good friend, K, and I had similar weather in Greece last month. 

AGMA, as loyal readers know, is the amateur master trip planner. And, if I do say so myself, the trip went off without a sneeze.  Except maybe a hiccup on the way home, but that’s just the way it is with flying these days.

It sucks.

(But not bad enough for me to stay home!)

We started out in Athens.  AGMA has been to Athens three times before this trip, but I realized that I never spent more than 2 nights in that amazing city.  On this trip, we hung out there for 4 nights and it was marvelous (COVID not withstanding.) The breakfast room in our hotel, The Astor (a couple of blocks off Syntagma Square) is on the top floor, and has an incredible view of the Acropolis. 

A really great way to start our day!

And K and I decided that we would end every day on a different rooftop bar. That, of course, had a view of the Acropolis. I mean, you have to have travel goals…

Yeah we did!

This trip to Athens was almost exactly 50 years after my first visit as a student. The top image below is a view of Mars Hill from the Acropolis that I took last month. The bottom one is an orange shirted AGMA on Mars Hill in 1972.

I know – I can’t tell a difference in how I look either… 😉

After 3 full days of exploring Athens (and rooftop bars!), it was time to island hop!

Going Greek island hopping has been on my bucket list for a long time. And hop we did – we visited Naxos, Santorini, and Milos. But Greek island hopping is staying on my bucket list because there are LOTS more Greek islands that need a good dose of AGMA!

After Athens, we flew to Naxos, which was like a 30 minute flight. Easy peasy. We did an AirB&B in Naxos City that was right on the harbor with a great view over the water and of the Temple of Apollo. Or at least what was left of the Temple of Apollo. Which isn’t much. But it’s the symbol of Naxos, and is in prominent place right on the water as you enter Naxos town from the Aegean.

The view of the Naxos City Harbor from our AirB&B

What remains of the Temple of Apollo on Naxos.

Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades Island group, and is surprisingly mountainous. It’s also an island that, unlike so many others, does not rely on solely on tourism for its livelyhood. It’s the most self-sufficient island in the Cyclades because of cattle breeding, cheese, fruit and veggie (esp potatoes) crops, Kitron (a citrus spirit that is incredible!), and cheese. Did I mention the yummy cheese?

The back of a cheese shop in Naxos City where we did a cheese tasting.

We did a day tour around the island that was well worth the cost. Lunch at a seaside taverna in the village of Apollonas was honestly like out of a movie!

K enjoying her pre-lunch adult beverage.

After 3 wonderful nights, it was time to hop again! This time we took a speedy ferry (that was absolutely PACKED with tourists) to Santorini.

Santorini is one of “the” islands that is a must do in Greece, and LOTS and LOTS of people got the memo. It’s a major stop on the Greek cruise circuit. AGMA has been to Santorini twice, but only for day trips on a shore excursions.

I was pumped to be staying 3 nights there.

The BIG BIG BIG (did I mention that it was BIG) thing to do on Santorini is to watch the sunset. While you can watch the sunset from many locations on the island, the town of Oia (pronounce Eea) seems to get the bulk of the crowds. Sunset picture to come…

The other big thing to do is to stay in a cave house. Because Santorini is volcanic in origin, the cliffs are made of soft volcanic rock. Back in the day, the economically disadvantage would build their homes by digging back into the soft volcanic rock with an exterior addition in the front. Cheap digs that stayed relatively cool in the summer. Over the years, these peasant ‘houses’ have become THE places to stay on Santorini sometimes commanding up to $1000 a night (depending on amenities and location.)

So, of course, AGMA wanted to stay in Oia in a cave house where we could watch the sunset. No problem… Gulp. But the key to getting semi-reasonable accommodations is to book as far in advance as you can. As soon as we had made our airline reservations last October, I pretty much booked our lodging, Fotinos House in Oia, right away. While not cheap, it was still a bargain (for the location, the amenities, and the ‘experience’) for $160 per night. And it was awesome…

Our cave house

We booked our ferry pickup and drop transfer from our host.  The transport cost included the portage of our bags from the drop off/pick up point in Oia to/and from our cave house. It was worth more than we paid! The path went up and down, and up and down, and up and down hundreds (no exaggeration) of stairs.  All of the buildings in the Castle area (the area were were staying at) are literally built into a cliff.  

Steps, steps, and more steps! See the mustard colored building center right? Our cave house is at 11 o’clock and our private sunset viewing platform is at 10 o’clock right next to it.

The Castle area of Oia is where 90% of the people go to watch the sunset every night.  And we had our own, private viewing platform.  Seriously. We finished each day with a glass Assyrtiko wine from Domaine Sigalas vineyards while watching two of the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen.

Our private sunset viewing platform!!

A stunning view, great wine, and a good friend – life is good!

Yeah – the 3rd night was a bust with lots o’ clouds.  I felt bad for the cruise folks who only had one evening there. First world problem.

It can still be beautiful even on a cloudy evening.

For some reason, AGMA thought it would be fun to walk the 10K from Oia to Fira (the largest town on Santorini) on the walking trail that goes along the rim of the collapsed volcanic caldera.  K agreed.  After all, we hiked the Cinque Terra together 5 years ago.   It would be a snap.

Nah baby nah.

5 hours and 30 minutes after leaving Oia, we arrived in Fira.  It was not a snap.  We had to walk over mountains (at least they seemed like mountains to us.) It was hot. We were sweaty. And hungry. And tired. But we did it!

We started in Oia, at the tip of that white village on the left. We were maybe 2k from Fira when I took this picture. It was a loooonnnng hike!

What the hell were we thinking??   But it makes for a great travel story….

After 3 nights, we reluctantly said goodbye to Santorini and jumped a slow ferry to Milos.  AGMA pretended I was on a Aegean cruise because we stopped at 4 islands before we got to Milos.  More ideas for future island hopping adventures?

We rented a car on Milos.  Our lodging was in the charming village of Pollonia that is about 6 miles from Adamas, the main town on the island.  There is public transportation, but everything I read about visiting Milos suggested renting a car.  We ended up with a little white car from a local Milos rental company that we nicknamed The Paper Cup. 

She was quite yar!

The other thing that travel bloggers suggest was a ‘must do’ on Milos was to take an all day boat trip around the island.  Check.

Our boat, the Eleni, and Dora the Explorer, our guide for the day, in the yellow top.

I waited until a couple of days before our visit to book our boat excursion because of the nature of the weather around the islands.  Wind can be a problem and the excursions boats won’t go when it’s really windy. It was very windy and even a bit chilly when we were on Naxos.  So much so that I had to buy a velour hoodie to wear in the evenings.

AGMA stylin’ in her new deep Aegean blue velour on Naxos.

Velour is trendy again… Who knew?? 

The weather was pretty perfect when we were on Milos, so off we went for our 10 hour trip around the island.  What a fantastic time!  We had a wonderful guide in Dora, and lots of great food, and pretty much as much wine as you wanted.  Plus, it had gotten warm enough to go swimming from the boat.

I case you were wondering, I did not do any sort of editing of my photos. The sky was THAT vivid blue and the water was THAT turquoise.

However, K and I didn’t bring our bathing suits to Greece because we both feel like we couldn’t fit the volume of fabric it would take to cover our COVID-angst fed bodies into our carry ons.  So we improvised wearing sports bras & running shorts!

Oh la la!

And yes – we met two hot French men…  And their wives.  Who gave their approval for the photo. Damn. But nobody else has to know that we weren’t being cougars – it will just be between us WordPressers.

The last night on Milos was the night of the blood moon.  Cafe Opsidianoa in Pollonia was the perfect place to watch it and spend some time thinking about how much we didn’t want to leave Greece yet…

Terrible picture of the blood moon rising over Milos. In person, it appeared much, much larger.

We flew back to Athens the next day and spent our last night near the Athens airport.  The hiccup the morning we were going home was that our direct flight from Athens to Newark that was supposed to leave at noon, was rescheduled to leave at 8 PM, and now included a stop in Iceland.  Which would have caused us to miss our connecting flight to Cincinnati in Newark, and me to miss my early morning flight the next day from Cincinnati to Chicago.

Through AGMA’s dogged determination, we managed to get rebooked onto a direct flight from Athens to DC then onto Cincinnati. Yay! But because of stupid issues (multiple) with the plane from DC and a really bad thunderstorm in Cincinnati, we ended up arriving there 5 hours late anyway.  Boo.

So let’s review… There are 227 Greek islands.  I have visited 7 of them (Crete, Mykonos, Rhodes & Patmos plus the three on this trip)

Only 220 to go!

#travelgoals

AGMA after yet another sweaty hike up a mountain (on Milos this time) pondering what islands I’ll visit on my next trip to Greece!