New York

Nearly home. We stayed for a fun few days with the Bennets in New Jersey, Jamie is Janna's friend from Moody that we visited the day after we got engaged back in 1992. The family are doing great and they took us to the science museum in Liberty Park by the harbor. What an inspiring view!

The next day we went to a great beach in new Jersey where it was warm enough for us all to get into the ocean and enjoy the surf. After a lot of paddling in different chilly oceans on this trip, it finally was warm enough to get all the way in.

Beach in New Hampshire

Barbara and the boys on a busy but beautiful beach in New Hampshire. Our first sight of the Atlantic for many years (first ever for the boys). Grampa stayed in the van. Later we all stayed in a motel with adjoining rooms and took a trolley to the beach.

Back in the USA... but still on the road

After a few days in Chattanooga visiting family we headed out again on a road trip to the North East visiting friends on the way and meeting up with Janna's parents in Boston. Here we are in Pennsylvania following an Amish buggy. It turned out to have a husband, wife and baby with its legs hanging out in the sunshine. No seat belt!

Janna's new tooth

Janna had visited the dentist in TN before we left. To save money she visited a dental school in Nashville and got a temporary filling and a quote for a root canal. On the trip the filling finally came out and one night in Hove she started getting some discomfort. With trepidation we found a private dentist nearby and she made an appointment. The prices were better than those in the US! Here is the high tech machine making her crown from a block of porcelain while she waited!
While most things are more expensive in the UK, it turns out that bread, used cars and dental work are cheaper.

Life at Nanny and Grandad's

The boys have their own den up in the loft at Nanny and Grandad's. They sleep up there on two air mattresses and have plenty of space for books and toys. Often we hear the sounds of imaginative play coming from the open hatch, this time it was while Nanny was giving Gabriel a piano lesson.

Spitfire boys

Rob Lewis invited the boys to join the Model Club once a month at church on a Saturday afternoon. The boys started with a model Spitfire kit and we took it down to Hove to finish in the week. Rob said that he could set us up with a visit to the "Heritage Hanger" up on the airfield at Biggin Hill. They restore old spitfires and keep them for the owners to fly. Its not open to the public but Rob had a connection! My dad joined us along with the other boys and their parents for a fascinating visit. These planes cost millions of pounds to restore and they had four or five in the hanger plus the remains of one displayed on a wall that crashed near the coast.

Back in Zevgolatiou

Three years ago we stayed with this family but we had lost their contact info so we set out to find them. Janna recognized the streets and being a holiday weekend they were all at home. The boys played and we ate Easter Bread and Greek coffee. A couple of cousins who spoke better English showed up, and we reconnected with them.

View of Chalkida from the Morgans balcony

Easter toys with candles

It's coming up to Greek Easter which is a huge celebration and holiday here. One of the traditions is for godparents to give candles to children to burn in the church on Good Friday. Plain candles are a bit dull so in our materialistic culture why not jazz them up with an expensive toy. Theres a whole aisle in the toy store where all the big international franchises from Cars to Barbie to Mickey Mouse have their own custom packaging for this season including... A candle!

Grayson beating Malc at connect 4 on the train to Athens

Back in Athens and how we did it

It's great to be back in Greece again after 3 years. This time, because it's getting close to Easter, the prices were higher, driving my personal assistant to spend many hours on the Internet finding a cost effective way to get us all here. She is really good at this kind of thing, and only requires a quick back rub at the tensest moments.
So on Wednesday morning we set out from Brighton to Stanstead in our car - 2 hours instead of only 1/2 hour to Gatwick - checked into our long term parking 74 pounds and caught our cheap Ryanair flight to Thessaloniki. 225 Euros for all of us. No movie, no food and upright seats. As we approached the city I read Thessalonians on my ipod while the guy next to me read over my shoulder. We landed at 9pm and we took a city bus across town to the TrainO station. 2,80 Euros. Got some Euros from a machine and waited till midnight when the train drivers strike finished and our train departed for Athens. First class carriage with reclining seats and a sandwich and drink included for only 52,80 euros for all of us!
Patchy sleep with very loud announcements cutting in on speaker as we approached each station. At about 6 am Grayson and I lugged our selves and our bags out of the train in Athens but the doors close on my assistant and Gabriel. Despite me yelling "dont worry, its going to be OK" and punching the button to open it, the train moved off and I figured I was in for a long wait till they found the next train back. At that point my enterprising assistant found out exactly what happens to you if you pull the big red emergency handle. The train stops pretty quick and a man with a walkie talkie runs up and.... apologizes! Reunited we munched on one if the free sandwiches in the first class waiting room and then made our way down into the Metro to cross the city at rush hour. 4,20 Euros. Later Fotis told me there was a bomb threat at Syntagma (where below ground we were changing lines)! It was planted by political extremists, they gave notice so nobody was hurt. At Koropi, out near the airport, we got off the train and found a taxi, 7 Euros, for the five minutes drive to the apartment at Comovision center where we ate some breakfast and took a nap. (When I woke up and showered I plugged in the laptop and worked 9 hours finishing a project I started in Brighton on Tuesday and made back most of the expense of the trip. Praise God, our provider!)

Battlefield

The weather is getting warmer so we took a drive over towards Hastings to see where the battle took place in 1066. The Abbey, with the alter built on the spot where Harold fell, was closed, so we took a walk over the fields behind it and imagined the gruesome scene.

Mackerel on beach

Tide was in tonight and had washed up some dead fish.

Fun at Model World in Brighton

Brighton

We are staying with my friend Nigel in Brighton to take advantage of the sea air. It's quite mild and bright for this time of year and very pretty so we are walking down to the beach every day. It's just under a mile, and we walk past streets that I remember from when I used to live here and work for the church.
I have some projects to do on Nigel's house, and some projects on Mum and Dads house too, so we are just staying down here for the week and driving back at the weekends.

Fun in Nanny's bathroom

Nanny helps Grayson to make and sail a wine cork sailboat.

From one of the towers

Looking down on the river Avon

Warwick Castle

Spent a great day looking over the castle that was founded by the Normans in the 11th century. The weather was cold but bright and the crowds were nowhere in sight. We got the helpful and well informed tour guides to ourselves as we wandered around.

Our Car

Here's our new (to us) car. It took us a long time to sort out insurance and decide on one. It's got four doors plus the hatch back. It's a 2001 Renault Megane and we are very pleased so far. A few issues are to be expected on a car that costs 750 pounds, but a nice smooth ride up to Liverpool and it has a cd changer in the boot (trunk). By the way, we are all doing well with using British terms.

At the Bookyard

Here we are at my brother Nicks business, the Bookyard where they recycle Apple computers. Last time we visited the business was in his home, a large red brick victorian 3 storey house. Now its in a commercial space has grown a lot. Nick is on the right and his son Luke is on the far left.

On the way to Liverpool

We stopped at a service area for petrol (gas) and to check email and saw this electric charging station. Cool!

Boys and Winston

3 miles south of Biggin Hill is Westerham, the home of Winston Churchill. Chartwell, his house is open to the public and we may visit at some point, but for now an informal photo with the old man will do.