2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:13September2026: Thessaloniki and Samos: The Rapidly Ageing Doryssa Seaside Resort

After a long flight transporting you to different time zones one thinks of sleeping like a baby but for me that is rarely the case. I had a restless sleep waking up at 03:30 and tossing, turning and dozing thereafter. That afternoon nap might have backfired on me. Down to a wonderful breakfast at 10:00.Continue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:13September2026: Thessaloniki and Samos: The Rapidly Ageing Doryssa Seaside Resort”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE : Short Attention Span Version

12September2026: Thessaloniki, Greece: Nothing better (not really) than a good sleep and a great breakfast Slept seven and a half hours and woke up a tad groggy. Jet lag causes physical fatigue but it also befuddles the mind making simple decisions a bit more complicated than they deserve to be. A pleasant morning brought cloudsContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE : Short Attention Span Version”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:11September 2026: Are the clouds behind me now and can I look to bright sunshiny days ahead?: Finally in Thessaloniki!

11September 2026: Are the clouds behind me now and can I look to bright sunshiny days ahead: Finally in Thessaloniki! Was it a two hour or 4 hour “sleep” at Sofitel Athens Airport Hotel. Having finally crawled into bed at 01:00 and setting the alarm for 04:00 it was 3 hours in bed and itContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:11September 2026: Are the clouds behind me now and can I look to bright sunshiny days ahead?: Finally in Thessaloniki!”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:10September2026: Frustration With Sky Express and the $815 Four-Hour Hotel Bill

Plans that went askew! I was to meet up with dearest F at Athens E Venizelos International Airport when her ITA Airways flight from Rome arrived at 18:35 and then take a Sky Express flight at 20:35 to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city. The arrivals board simply said her flight was “Late” with no estimatedContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:10September2026: Frustration With Sky Express and the $815 Four-Hour Hotel Bill”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: On the way: More airline pig slop and 9 1/2 hours of boredom Toronto to Athens 9September2026

On the way: More Airline Pig Slop and 9 ½ Hours of Boredom Toronto to Athens: 9September2026 I was last in Greece three years ago to cover the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. I have been visiting Greece since 1971 and the Greece of 1971-73, before the tourist boom, envelops my fondest memories. In the faceContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: On the way: More airline pig slop and 9 1/2 hours of boredom Toronto to Athens 9September2026”

“Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: SATURDAY IN CREEMORE: LIFESTYLES OF THE TORONTO GENTRY: MY MULMUR HILLS ADVENTURE

SATURDAY IN CREEMORE: LIFESTYLES OF THE TORONTO GENTRY: MY MULMUR HILLS ADVENTURE It has been close to twenty years since Bob and Fay have stayed with Suzy Larue. Mr. Larue is long since in the Great Land Beyond but his spirit hovers above the property. Bob was looking forward to visiting the quaint town ofContinue reading ““Lost in Puppydom: Rory Dylan Stephen’s Puppydom”: SATURDAY IN CREEMORE: LIFESTYLES OF THE TORONTO GENTRY: MY MULMUR HILLS ADVENTURE”

RKS 2025 Travel: Destination Southeast Asia (Short Attention Span Version):Singapore 12October2025:  Passing on the 250 Acre Gardens by the Bay and the Garden Rhapsody Light and Musical Show

Singapore 12October2025:  Passing on the 250 Acre Gardens by the Bay and the Garden Rhapsody Light and Musical Show I am not enthused by the evening activity of visiting the 250-acre Gardens by the Bay with The Cloud Forest, Supertree Observatory, Flower Dome and OCBC Skyway followed by the garden Rhapsody Light and Musical ShowContinue reading “RKS 2025 Travel: Destination Southeast Asia (Short Attention Span Version):Singapore 12October2025:  Passing on the 250 Acre Gardens by the Bay and the Garden Rhapsody Light and Musical Show”

RKS 2025 Travel: Destination Southeast Asia (Short Attention Span Version):Singapore 11October2025: Singapore Panoramic Tour: Is Singapore Soulless?

Singapore 11October2025: Singapore Panoramic Tour: Is Singapore Soulless? “Singapore Panoramic Tour” sounds a bit easy peasy just what the doctor ordered for haggard jet laggers. On a luxury coach (no WC facilities) at 09:15. First stop Merlion Park at the Esplanade Bridge. Right behind us one views the Singapore skyline with innumerable skyscrapers many withContinue reading “RKS 2025 Travel: Destination Southeast Asia (Short Attention Span Version):Singapore 11October2025: Singapore Panoramic Tour: Is Singapore Soulless?”

RKS 2025 Travel: Destination Southeast Asia (Short Attention Span Version)

THE TOUR DIRECTOR: The glue that binds the group together Your tour will have a tour director travelling with you for your entire tour present when you arrive up to your departure and handle all administrative details in between. Part drill sergeant. Part parental figure. Part diplomat. Caregiver. Interpreter. Friend. Part object of blame. TheContinue reading “RKS 2025 Travel: Destination Southeast Asia (Short Attention Span Version)”

“Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog” : The Final Cut: Reggie’s Security Detail: Ollie the Pup Known as “The One with the Enlightened Nose”: Chapter Twenty Eight (28)

I warn you. Ollie is not a puffball like The Mookster but more of a cuddlekins. But get on his wrong side count your fingers before you meet his ire as when Ollie is pissed man that pup is on fire! Ollie is in my hood like The Mookster and I love both those dogsContinue reading ““Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog” : The Final Cut: Reggie’s Security Detail: Ollie the Pup Known as “The One with the Enlightened Nose”: Chapter Twenty Eight (28)”