Spectacular. I love Erik Larson’s writing and although my favorite is still Devil in the White City, The Splendid and the Vile was remarkable.
I listened to this book on Audible and I recommend it for that….it is a very detail oriented story of Winston Churchill’s life and leadership during WWII and for me, the perfect kind of story to be performed on Audible.
This book could easily have been called Churchill Myth and Legend. I learned so much about this remarkable man; his idiosyncrasies, brilliant mind, clever strategies, courageous leadership and remarkable oratory abilities – all strengths that helped him keep England out of the German’s hands. The entire world owes much to Winston Churchill still today.
Listening to this book during the Covid-19 outbreak I found so many parallels to the current world crisis. Two different kinds of war. I kept coming back to the fact that wars can often be won by sheer will…but only if a true leader can keep the spirits of the nation high through courageous oratory and patriotism…none of which I see from the leader of the USA.
The Splendid and the Vile is astonishing in its scope, extraordinary in its historic detail and noteworthy in its ability to bring Churchill right into your living room.
*****Five stars for The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
When we started this life of full-time travel I imagined getting in awesome shape while we traveled. But it hasn’t been that easy. In fact, it’s one of the more difficult parts of this ongoing journey – getting and staying in shape. Not at all what I was expecting. Over the past few weeks as we have sat in lockdown in Cyprus, I’ve begun to see again how lack of routine can wreck havoc on travel and staying fit in My Fab Fifties Life.
Keeping a healthy weight has never come easy for
Running in our neighborhood
me. I am not a tiny girl…a comfortable size 12 or 10 is my USA size. But I fluctuate a lot and always have.
A decade ago when I began running I found a wonderful new outlet for both stress release and weight control. I love to run!. But in that decade I have also experienced some severe injuries that kept me from running up to as long as a year. Suffering from sciatic nerve damage and plantar fasciitis being two of the worst things that have sidelined me.
But even when I am healthy, travel and staying fit, particularly running is not always feasible on this travel journey. I was surprised to find as we circled the globe how many destinations are unsafe for running; dangerous roads, uneven sidewalks, vicious dogs (remember the dog bite?) not to mention many countries where a woman should not be out alone. These surprises stymied my running for months at a time.
We cycle when we can
We are currently in Argaka on the island of Cuprus, day 42 of lockdown. I am really enjoying running here. Rural Argaka offers a flat and easy routes direct from our villa. I have regularly been running 4-5 miles daily.
Swimming is another favorite work out of mine, but alas, in four years of travel I can only think of three places we have been where a swimming pool was large enough to swim laps. Most pools are very small, and open ocean swimming isn’t something I’m comfortable with.
My best tool in my travel and staying fit goal is I can do yoga just about anywhere, and I do. I do it on my own nearly every day, and take classes when they are convenient and affordable. Yoga builds strength and flexibility as well as clears the mind and helps focus, but I really need to have a good strong regular aerobic exercise to keep my weight down. I carry a travel yoga mat and styrofoam block and use them religiously.
Yoga for body and mind
And then of course there is the food. And the alcohol. I love to eat and cook and try lots of new foods in every country we visit. Some countries the food is better than others, but I’ll try everything once (well
We hike and walk a lot
almost everything) and we enjoy food as a cultural experience wherever we are. Although I believe we are eating fresher and more organic and locally grown than in the USA, we still eat with pleasure and sometimes too much, despite the fact we usually only have two meals a day.
During our first part of the Grand Adventure I drank alcohol every day, usually a gin and tonic or two, sometimes beer. But this past winter I decided the caloric intake of alcohol just isn’t worth it to me, particularly when I am in countries where I feel like I’m not getting enough exercise. So I cut way back on alcohol. However, I have found being on lockdown has created a routine of drinking daily again…alas there are some vices we need to just accept right now, no?
Hopefully we will be back in the USA in a week or two, where I have access to safe running roads
Swimming in Thailand
and trails. If the YMCA reopens, I’ll begin swimming again. And yoga will continue daily on my own.
It’s not easy right now to be motivated to do anything…I know. I’m restless and not sleeping well. But having some kind of a routine, especially a work out routine helps keep me stay sane. I’m particularly thankful I can get out into nature each day. A definite blessing for travel and staying fit.
We are still here! Hope you all are hanging in there…I gotta say, it’s kind of weird, but it’s starting to not feel all that strange…like this is just my life now. Living on this island but not being able to see any of it.
The Numbers
Cyprus Covid-19 Cases 760 Deaths 13
Day 41 on Cyprus. Day 37 in Quarantine/Lockdown
The strange thing about these numbers above is my perception of them. For instance…it took us 41 days to walk the Camino Francis…that was 37 days of walking and 4 rest days. But THAT actually seemed longer than the time I have been here. Why?
Additionally, we spent 42 days on the Island of Mauritius. And THAT seemed longer than the time I have been here. Why?
Argaka Beach
I think it’s because there is no end date for me to look at here. It’s just a never ending carousel of days. Around and around we go…
Cyprus News
Today is Orthodox Easter, the biggest holiday of the year in Cyprus. I’m sorry we are not able to participate in this celebration. I understand it is a very special four days. Everything of course was canceled…or postponed until further notice. I posted a blog on Friday all about the way this holiday is celebrated in Cyprus. Please find it here.
Even though virus cases have continued to grow, wide spread testing has been available and many people are getting tested, which of course is affecting the numbers. There are still infractions being issued for those who break the curfew or are out with out their “permission slip”. We have settled into life with only leaving the house once a day. Sometimes when we are out on our run, we will make a quick pit-stop at the mini market down the street if we need bread or eggs or gin! But I believe these restriction are helping Cyprus – while back home it sounds like much of the population are ignoring the rules, going to Home Depot, walking along Tacoma’s waterfront etc.
Getting to know the locals in Cyprus
The President of Cyprus and cabinet announced this week a four step plan to reopen the economy in early May. But the plan begins with very minor lessening of the restrictions, and we do not yet know if it will include opening the airport or even give us an opportunity to get outside our village.
Mostly Good News
I’m happy to share that Airbnb came through for us and has issued us a full refund for our Jerusalem house. They have been redeemed in my eyes. We have three more Airbnb’s currently reserved; Finland and France in June and New York City in December. We will wait and see what’s next.
The flight we had booked from Malta to Belgrade via Istanbul has been canceled…but they are giving us credit towards a future flight. Not helpful.
We have also negotiated to continue to stay here at Lemon Grove Villa with a week by week extension at the same rate per day ($69 USD). We are happy about that. If we do need to leave at the spur of the moment they will also issue us a refund. So no complaints there. All of the flights we have seen leave the island, have happened with only 24 hours notice. So we need to be ready at a moments notice.
4am on Zoom with my book club
I have leaped past my “feeling sorry for myself” state-of-mind and have had a very productive week. I’ve lost track of how many webinars I have participated in. This week I continued to revamp my Pinterest account, did a total rebranding of my Instagram and have spent hours learning Tailwind. This stuff is really interesting to me….I’m a marketing geek what can I say? I also loved having an hour and a half on Zoom with my Book Club, even at 4:00 am. That made me happy.
I’m still having trouble reading though…and I’ve also had a couple nightmares and restless nights.
Since we arrived I’ve been focused on teaching myself the cuisine of Cyprus, and hope to have a blog all about that in the weeks ahead. Hard to believe we have been here 41 days and not eaten in a single restaurant.
I hope you all are finding your peace in all this mess and accepting how life has changed forever. Please stay well. Please stay positive. Please stay fabulous.
Thanks for caring about us. We are doing fine. Thanks for continuing to support my blog. Love you all.
It’s Orthodox Good Friday here in Cyprus…the start of a four-day holiday, the biggest holiday of the year – one week later than other Easter Celebrations. But not this year. Yes the dates are still the same, but the celebrations have all been called off. In 2020 the story of Easter in Cyprus is on pause.
The President of Cyprus has declared the island people will celebrate a “postponed” Pascha in May. Let’s all hope it will happen. As Cyprus continues it’s lockdown, we all hold our breath and wait.
Bon Fires are an Easter Tradition
It’s disappointing not to be able to witness the faithful on this day here in Cyprus, a place I am beginning to feel is my home. Last April we were flabbergasted at the spectacle of Semana Santa in Antigua Guatemala…one of the most wonderful things I have every experienced. I have no doubt the Orthodox Easter Celebration would be just as amazing. Perhaps we will still be here in May when and if it happens.
Lambs are a symbol of Pascha
Meanwhile I’ve been in touch with the local website called Choose Cyprus and they have agreed to let me share this amazing blog that describes the story of Easter in Cyprus and how the people come together in their communities each Pascha.
I hope you can take the time to read it in the link below.
I really loved this book. What a great story told with such expression. I read the book on my Kindle but can imagine it would be excellent on Audible too…and now I hope to see the movie…if I ever get off this crazy island I’m trapped on.
Reading is such a blessing during this lockdown, and a book like Motherless Brooklyn for me is the perfect distraction; a compelling story about believable characters in real world situations with modern day afflictions. It was a page turner.
Lethem brilliantly creates a character living with full-on Tourette’s syndrome by using a combination of creative story-telling and ingenious tactile components in the story. His writing gives the reader a first hand experience of living with Tourette’s, while bringing together other elements of the character’s unique and obsessive mind. You will fall in love with the character of Lionel Essrog.
Motherless Brooklyn follows Lionel’s life from childhood to mobster hood in Brooklyn and Harlem, as Lionel emerges as a talented detective, unafraid, detail obsessed and out to solve the murder of his mentor and only friend.
High praise for all the characters in this story, the remarkable and unique plot, and the beautiful writing of Lethem.
*****Five Stars for Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem.
April 11 th marked seven months since we left the USA
Cyprus Virus Cases as of today 620 – Deaths 13
See below for latest news and developments from the island under lockdown.
Blessings
It’s Easter Sunday and I’m determined to count my blessings all day…and especially in this message before I move on to the other details of our lockdown life. There are many blessings and I remind myself this when I am falling down the rabbit hole of too much news, too much worry and too much social media. I am blessed;
I’m healthy and safe
Although I know some people with the virus, they are all acquaintances of acquaintances and so far none of my family or close circle of friends have been afflicted. That I know of.
My husband is with me
I can talk to my family and friends regularly
Cyprus is beautiful
Our villa and hosts have been exceptional
I have been to 110 countries and if I never get to travel again, well I have been to 110 countries and I am blessed.
It may be Easter in most of the world, but it’s not Easter here in Cyprus. We actually get to celebrate Easter twice. Small blessing. Today we celebrate on the day most of the Christian world celebrates and next Sunday the Orthodox Easter is celebrated. It’s something to look forward to, although we won’t leave the house for either of these holidays. Blessings.
Easter Blessings
Grief Becomes Goals
Like a big heavy wet blanket, grief is oppressive as it lays on our lives. I’m aware how many people have been feeling this way, and I have too. We are grieving for our past lives and for things familiar. Recognizing what this emotion is is definitely the healthiest step we can make, and recognizing the chapters and long road we face ahead is important.
On my run this morning I was remembering my personal battle of grief when my brother died. I was highly functioning for months following his death, handling all the gruesome details of my brother’s sudden death, pushing my grief away. There was a very poignant moment for me, when, feeling sorry for myself I was thinking how much I wanted things to just go back to normal. Normal.
What is normal after a loss, tragedy, crisis? It was that moment that I instinctively knew the answer to one of life’s most difficult questions. There never will be a normal of old. It’s gone, just like yesterday and two minutes ago. Can’t get it back. A new normal develops…and we gradually accept and live in it.
I think I’m making positive steps towards the new normal, as I have found myself much more engaged in trying to keep busy and definitely looking at what life will look like going forward. Blessings.
Keepimg Busy
Healthy Body and Mind
The movie Wall-E keeps running through my mind, where the human race needs to leave planet earth to let it heal. Remember? And they all live on some kind of Starship Enterprise, getting fat, and lazy and stupid.
Oh dear.
I am still finding it difficult to focus on reading…of all things. I should be devouring books, but I’m not. But I have found something else to take my mind off of the bad news. I’ve never allowed myself the time to listen to podcasts, take webinars, or sign up for classes on line. This past week I have done all of those things. And I have learned so much and it feels great.
Most of the learning I’m doing online is geared towards this blog (although I snuk in a cooking class)…how might this blog look in the months and years ahead with the changes in travel? How can I keep it viable and interesting, inspiring and fun? I took a class about Pinterest and Tailwind and am considering doing an online Tailwind consulting. Tailwind has always baffled me so I kind of ignore it. I also took a wonderful webinar about Instagram and learned some fun new things. Additionally I took a live online class with other bloggers about search engine optimization and affiliate options for bloggers. BTW check out my new and improved Pinterest account here. It’s pretty.
These are all things I never paid much attention to…but now I am learning and finding it really fascinating. Keeping my mind open to learning. I’m doing yoga and have a new app for that too and I’ve begun training for a half marathon. No Wall-E for this girl. Blessings.
Keeping Positive
Latest Cyprus News
A lot of things happened this week on the island. First, the stay home lockdown has been extended to April 30 th, same as the USA. Easter has been “postponed” until May, as the government tries to get the Church to agree to not hold Easter services. A big task in this very religious country.
We still need to ask permission to leave the house, which we do via text. We went to the grocery store this week, and were stopped by the police at a road block. We had to show our “permission” to be out, and then we were flagged through. If we didn’t have that authorization, we would each be fined $300. Thousands of citations have been given over the past few weeks and one man has been arrested for some kind of fake SMS scheme he was running.
There was a flight that left Cyprus this week to Stockholm. We considered taking it, but decided against it. We would have needed to stay the night in Stockholm, take a second flight to London, stay the night in London and then take a third flight to Seattle. This did not seem like a healthy or safe scenario so we decided to wait.
We received a phone call from the Embassy checking on us. They were trying to determine the level of “need” each American has. This is good, the most interest they have shown in our welfare. We are aware that there are many people who have much more urgent reasons to get back to the USA (jobs, kids etc) than we do. We are also aware of some cases where people are running out of money and need to get out. We do not fall into those categories. We continue to be safe and comfortable. Blessings.
You may have seen the interview that I did with Q13 News in Seattle this week. It was fun to tell our story, even if they did pronounce my name wrong. It’s okay – not the first time I’ve been called Loud. 🙂
In our original itinerary we would have been touring the Caucasus right now; Armenia. Georgia and Azerbaijan. But we aren’t so no point in dwelling on it. It’s the new normal.
Still waiting for Airbnb to make it right by us. Flights we had in May have now all been canceled. Unfortunately they are giving credit not cash. Ugh.
My gut tells me we will be here until May…assuming the airport opens in early May. At that time we will determine a plan of action. But until then, we will certainly consider any possible flight that comes available, but more likely we will spend our days here, waiting like the rest of the world. Blessings.
Stay safe my friends. Be good to each other. Happy Easter.
My husband would call this a chickflic. And it is. But Jojo Moyes formula for best sellers cannot be denied and this book is very popular amongst the chickflic set. I enjoyed it too.
Moyes transports the reader to depression era Kentucky where a young English-bred lady named Alice Wright arrives after a spur of the moment marriage to handsome Bennett Van Cleve.
Alice is looking to escape the constraints of British life in the early 1900’s but isn’t exactly prepared for what greets her in Kentucky; hostile and prejudiced people, rough and rural country, overbearing and violent father-in-law. And to top it off, a husband who is unable or unwilling to perform and consummate their marriage.
Alice’s loneliness finds her suddenly thrust into a new Roosevelt WPA project known as the Packhorse Librarians, a book delivery system to provide the poorest of the poor in Kentucky an opportunity to learn.
It’s here that Alice finds herself and her purpose in life and also her true love. There is a lot of turmoil and tragedy before the book ends happily.
My favorite part of the book is the factual history of the Packhorse Librarians and the success the program had in rural Kentucky and other backwoods places of deep depression era America.
This book is exactly what the major motion picture industry loves. I have no doubt we will see it on the big screen soon.
****Four stars for The Giver of Stars by Jo Jo Moyes.
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