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We have been out of Peace Corps for a while but have finally managed to put the "R" in RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). Read: we're in America!

During our 2 years in Mali we talked quite a bit about returning on a boat, dreaming of crossing the Atlantic in days instead of hours, so we did. Our ship left from Dover, England. We first spent some time exploring the famous white cliffs.


Atop the white cliffs.


It is a little too slippery for Sam's liking.


Your town needs a nice castle to be taken seriously in England.

We boarded the ship for the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. It turns out that this is much larger body of water than a quick glimpse at the map might indicate. It took twelve nights of pretty much constant steaming (or diesel burning, as it is nowadays) to get stateside.

It took 2 days of cruising to reach Portugal. The seas en route were so rough that many folks were hiding in their staterooms or using the white bags provided on the stair railings (We've seen these in planes before). In fact, we were afflicted with land sickness when we walked around Lisbon. It was tough to stop swaying.


Beautiful old world architecture.


The streets look the same as they did back when Portugal ruled the seas.

With the one port of call behind us we had the next 8 days at sea. Since we were making up for lost time living in a muslim country, we spent much of the days eating bacon, playing trivia and drinking beers in the hottubs.


On the way to the hottubs (note: beers in pockets).


Familiar decorations onboard.


Finally touching land in the U.S. of A.

We have looked forward to returning home for so long. Obviously, we are happy to be home. We will do our best to see everyone as soon as possible. We don't need to tell any of you to be patient with us, you are all used to that. We will try to see all our friends but, as we learned in Mali, it is family first.


Lila playing with dad and Uncle Mark.


Kayla, Emily and Megan dancing with Aunt Sam.

We are thrilled to be back but will never forget where we went. We cannot express our thanks to all of you who made it all possible from family to friends to Peace Corps crew. It has been incredible. We have grown in ways we never expected, seen places and done things we could never have imagined and met people we will never forget. Thank you all.


"That way to Africa."

Scotland

Off to Bonny Scotland for some cold and rain and a visit with the brother. We leave from England to head home soon but a few pints up north is always a good idea. We saw palaces, pubs, mountains and football pitches, with plenty of pleasant nights with great conversations along the way.

Check it out:




Mark and Brian intrigued by the commentary at Holyrood Palace.





Scotland has plenty of ruins.




Ascending the staircase of Arthur's Seat.




There was a crowd atop of the Seat but great vistas of Edinburgh Castle.




Us with our friend Stuart's mum who had just returned from her first trip to America. A trip which included, oddly enough, a weekend at Mark's mum's.




Downtown in the capitol.




Typical Scottish scenery.




Looking down on the Firth of Forth.




Off to the Hearts vs. Rangers game at Tynecastle.




Great seats had us close to the action. Yer man, American Maurice Edu had a good game for the visitors.




The only happy ones in the crowd at the end were the visitors fans and us, who had less invested. Sam and Mark with Brian's roomate Katherine (the only one smiling) and some stern looking Hearts fans.




Our heros with Arthur's Seat in the background.

Bulgaria

When arrived in the rather cosmopolitan city of Sofia, Bulgaria, there was a puppet festival going on. All around town there were advertisements for the shows. There were even a few 3-D advertisements:




We stumbled upon one such show in a park (they were are held in various parks around the city) and it was a trip. The word "puppet" is much more open ended than we had realized. This show was an intricate performance piece that kept a large group of people, all speaking different languages, captivated the entire time with its human puppets:




We later found ourselves in a landscape which we have not experienced in years, mountains. We visited the ski resort town of Bansko in the Pirin mountains and, it must be said, they were much more impressive than we had expected:




It reminded us of our former lives in Jackson Hole. All the taverns looked like Pepi Steigler's Restaurant, except we could afford food there, so that was better:




The vistas we equal to any mountains we've seen around the world:




In the beautiful town of Plovdiv we enjoyed walking through the old town but ran into a few rainstorms so we ducked into taverns to avoid them. We spent the time having fresh wine from the barrel:




We were not limited to wine, however. They practically give beer away for free in this country. It is not just sold in bars and cafes but on virtually every street corner. In fact, you see it very often at bus stops, since it is cheaper to buy than water:




It is sometimes better to stick with the beer and wine, as the offerings on the menus can be a bit strange:




In Veliko Tarnovo we stayed in the house of some locals and the view was stunning:




We walked on the walls surrounding the old fortress:








After that it was off to the Black Sea coast and the resort town of Sunny Beach:




Believe it or not, some friends of ours (who have obviously not spent the last few years in Peace Corps) own a penthouse suite in this town and put us up for a while. Once installed we had little to do but hang out and watch the sunsets, which is better than we deserve. Thank you, Travelling Campbells:



(You may notice our preference for white wine. It makes us a bit of pariahs in Bulgaria. They adore wine. To say they prefer red would be a massive understatement. They have many, many songs about red wine but only one about white and it goes something like this, "White wine, oh, white wine, how I wish you were red.")

Crete

The amazing scenery tour continues...



We kept island hopping until we were at the southernmost outpost, Crete. Cretans are a proud, mustachioed lot. Mark was deep undercover, only Sam could tell.




This island was much bigger than the previous islands we had visited. It required a car rather than a moto and it our adventures took us on some of the curviest roads in the world.

We went deep underground.



We climbed ancient ruins.



We visited old leper colonies.



And we enjoyed the azure waters of the Cretan and Libyan seas.

Greece - A visit with an old friend

The exodus from Africa is complete. We left Egypt and met up with our old friend, Mark Lister, in Athens, Greece. From visiting ancient sites, to island hopping, mountain hiking, to drinking local wine from the barrel and eating fried cheese until bursting at the seams, it was a great time.

First, a note about mustaches. When one thinks of Greek men one thinks, unless one knows very little of the world, of mustachioed gentlemen. In fact, I believe it was Stuart Campbell's brother Steven who once said, "If ye' been tae Greece sans a mad 'tache, ye' canny sae ye' been tae Greece at all!" Exhibit A - Traditional Greek Dress:

The two Marks, in the interest of cultural intergration, took the example of the mustachioed gentleman in the diorama.

Nailed it.

Now, on to some highlights of the visit:

Saw some photos of Lister's girlfriend and she makes a variation of this face in all her photos.

Old man and the Sea.

Supermodel photo shoot.

Island hopping.



We were going to rent a car but Lister could not decide which one, so we got motorscooters instead.

Go, go speedracer, go!

Moto riders.

Go, go, go, speedracer.

High above the Greek Isles.

Monasteries in the sky.

Looking down on a Greek village.


Typical scenery at Meteora.

Typical Greek island scenery.

Typical Greek architecture.

Route planning.

Route planning.

Trying to figure out where we are.

Donkey riding.

Donkey parking.

Birds.

Tasting local fare.

Sea Babies.

Baywatch Naxos.

Sunrise on Santorini (our hotel beach).

Sunset on Santorini.

The heros of our story.