"Besides love, independence of thought is the greatest gift an adult can give a child.”

~ Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One

While in Tanzania when I was traveling with "The Giving Lens", our group visited a vocational school in Moshi that was established by a former Home Economics teacher named Asha Mshana. After retiring from teaching Home Economics for 30 years in Tanzania, this lady wanted to make a difference for the girls who were getting married and having babies at age 12 or 13.  While in Tanzania we met many young mothers in their teens.  She wanted to provide them with a marketable trade such as improving there English, sewing, or using computers.  She created and found the funding for the Mkombozi vocational school. back in the 1999 all on her own which has grown a lot. Boys are allowed to attend as well. The students do have to pay to attend which is quite a hardship for many of them. Hundreds of students have graduated from one of her programs and found good paying jobs.

In my opinion Asha Mshana shows how much of a difference one person can make!  They need volunteers to help the students learn to use computers, sew, and improve their English skills.  Here is the website for the school she founded: 

http://www.mkombozivtc.org/about.html

Asha Mshana shown below:  Working hard on the computer and happy to be learning:

The sewing skills of many students were quite impressive and they were very proud of their creations:

The students all worked dilligently and seemed to be happy to be learning:

Here is a sign at the school warning about the danger of HIV/AIDS which is quite prevalent in Tanzania:

Here is the outside of the vocational school that was being expanded at the time of my visit:

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Have you ever met someone who succeeded in empowering and or helping so many others?  Have a great week my friends!

~Michelle

If I'm offered a good case in Florida or a good case somewhere else, South Florida will win every time.

~F. Lee Bailey

Note:  I hope no one is offended my the quote, but it's my attempt at humor :

We only paid $19.00 per person for this lovely cruise using a deal through Groupon.  The price is normally $39.00 per person. I definitely felt as the price was reasonable even at $39.00 a person. 

 
I would think this cloud looked like a little like a hurricane if I hadn't lived in Florida for almost seven years.
I love trying to capture panoramo photos.  It's not easy for me, but I like to capture as much as I can.

I loved all of the houses I saw.  I really can't identify a favorite.  The captain said there was one being built with 30,000 square feet!

I would love to spend time on one of these sandy beaches - weather permitting of course ;)

The following two photos are of my father and I:

My father and I before we boarded the ship:

My father, his girlfriend Lydia and I having our "drinks".  We really went for the hard stuff - water and lemon :)The fabulous scenery caused almost instant "sensory overload":


Thank you so much for stopping by.  As always I appreciate all of your comments and questions.  Have a wonderful week my friends!

~Michelle

 Below is a panoramic view from my balcony:

Austria is a very beautiful country.  It is just as beautiful as I thought it would be and as pretty as the pictures/postcards I had always seen.   It is a great place for nature lovers as well as sports enthusiasts to visit.  There are many very nice and well maintained biking and hiking trails especially in the small town I stayed in called St. Johann.

 I love seeing the mountains also known as the Alps because I live in Florida where it is very flat.  The only bad thing about the hills in the mountains is walking anywhere.  It gets a lot more tiring especially in the summer as Austria does get very warm.  It does cool off a little bit at night unlike Florida which stays very warm at night most of the year.  

I would like to return the Austria someday and stay in the cities of either Vienna or Salzburg as there are a lot to see and do there. Here are a few of my photos.  Pretty much everywhere I look I wanted to take a picture as everything was so pretty!  This is just a handful of the photos I took while I was there for a week.  I loved visiting the gorge I wrote a post about it here is the link:   

Visiting the Beautiful Liechtensteinklamm Gorge in St Johann, Austria  

I really did like Austria, but began to feel a little landlocked being an "island girl".  I was really looking forward to visiting Santorini toward the end of my stay.  St Johann is a great place to spend a few days to relax, view and or photo the gorgeous landscapes and of course visit the gorge mentioned above.

Here is a lovely church I visited:

There are flowers everywhere in the summer and on many window boxes.  The houses reminded me of the pretty swiss chalets I'd always seen in photos.

There is a river in town that is very scenic:

I loved the architecture and especially this pink house!
The following two photos were seen on my LONG walk to the gorge.  I loved the lush green landscape and mountains.  I think it reminded me of where I grew up in Vermont:

Many people at my hotel were simply lounging on the beautiful grounds relaxing.  I'm more of a "type B" traveler, but I decided to join them one day having severe jet lag.

It was a little boring to me so I took the above "selfie" and "toes in the sun" photo":

Here is an aerial view of Vienna taken from the plan en route to Santorini:

Miscellaneous photos taken around town:





Here are some photos of the gorge I mentioned above:

An outdoor market I found leaving the gorge:

I will leave you with a couple of panorama shots that I enjoy taking as well as one of me on my balcony.  These are of the grounds of the hotel I stayed at called the Alpenland Sporthotel. Thank you so much for stopping by as always I love to hear your comments and questions have a wonderful week my friends!

~Michelle

 The Above photo is Oia around sunset

I mispronounced Oia the first few days I was there.  It was not until the last couple of days of my visit that I learned the correct way to say it.  Oia is pronounced E-ah not Oy-a as I pronounced it my first few days there.

I think everyone pictures this beautiful picturesque part of Santorini when they think of Greece.  It truly did take my breath away.  The views are absolutely incredible.   The colors are stunning and the architecture is very unique.

 I would like to visit again someday under different circumstances if you read my previous posts you know that it was difficult to enjoy this island paradise as much as I could or should have.  Everywhere I looked I wanted to take a photo.  This post will mainly be photos not only because I took so many, but because I obviously think that a picture says a 1000 words. 

One thing that is important for people who are considering visiting Oia or Santorini to know is the dates that most of the hotels and restaurants are open.  I was surprised to learn that most hotels and restaurants close around November 1st and do not reopen until around March 1st.  There are still a few places to stay and eat, but just not as much to do.  Hotel prices in Oia range from about $200 - more than $10,000 a night depending on the time of year.

I was fortunate enough to receive two editor's choice awards from Pixabay.  Here are the links to the photos: 

http://pixabay.com/en/oia-santorini-greece-sunset-island-416136/

and

http://pixabay.com/en/oia-santorini-greece-sunset-island-416135/

This is where I had breakfast every morning:

pink flowers everywhere

July  is a very busy time ofthe in Oia.  I was very lucky to come across an empty street in the afternoon:

This is typically how the streets look in the afternoon:

Donkeys can be seen walking around town several times a day causing quite a spectacle:

   Here is a beautiful church I found and went into.  I followed a VERY young boy in who bowed once inside.  I followed suit.

Here is one of the blue domes that everyone sees in paintings and or envisions when they think of Santorini:

My favorite place to eat dinner with an awesome view:

Being a vegetarian, I eat a lot of greek salads at home.  They tasted much better here.  Perhaps it was the homegrown olives.  I'm sure the amazing view helped too!

Me at my favorite restaurant:

My travel charm bracelet with the blue floral bead I bought in Santorini and a few more random photos:

I really would like to visit Santorini again when I can enjoy it more than I did this time.  Have you ever been to Santorini?  If so did you enjoy it?  Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful week my friends!

~Michelle

 “You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals.” ― Paul McCartney

It did my heart good to see how well cats are treated on the island of Santorini in Greece.  While I was there I visited a restaurant several times where there were several kittens and cats. After what happened in Bali last year:  “Knowing it and seeing it are two different things.” ― Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay , I told myself that I was going to avoid all stray cats and kittens because I couldn't take the heart ache of having something happen again like in Bali.  

I told the owner at this restaurant that I was  going to go buy a big bag of cat food for the cats that I saw lounging around on a couch in his restaurant.  He seemed offended and said "I feed and water them every day".  It did my heart good and restored my faith in humanity for a while.  I went back there more than once.  I needed to seek the solace and comfort get away from the tourists given the fact that this vacation was not what I had expected it to be.  If you read my last post:  What Do You Do When a Tragedy or Emergency Happens at Home While Traveling?  you know what I'm talking about.  The food was wonderful the service was great and I highly recommend that you stop by this restaurant if you are ever in Santorini.  I just wanted to write about this wonderful experience because it did help me get through a tough time.   Yes, I was on a beautiful tropical island and I had my camera so I was able to take pictures, but in all honesty I couldn't wait to get home.  

Santorini is an incredibly beautiful island and I would like to believe that someday I can go back and truly enjoy it.  Having said that, the world is a big place and there are many other places I want to see you as well.  

Visiting this restaurant was one of the bright spots of my vacation in Santorini.  Thank you to the owner for taking such great care of those cats.  As you can see they are very happy and healthy looking,  

I was very happy to learn about a group on Santorini that helps the numerous strays on the island.   Santorini Animal Welfare Society (SAWA) is an animal welfare association this gorgeous island. They are a small organization and mainly focus on spay/neutering which is extremely important in stray populations.

Here are some photos of Kamari Beach:

I loved the colorful boats and cabanas all over the beach!

It's a very popular place!

I loved watching the kids play on the rocks
Kamari Beach is a really relaxing area away from the crowds of Oia
There were many, many nice restaurants overlooking the sea

The beaches are a little rocky - I live near Clearwater Florida where the sand is like baby powder so it's just different to me.
It was nice strolling down the streets lining Kamari Beach
I found this pretty church on one of the side streets

I also found some nice boutiques with pretty clothes and a happy cat :)

Then I found  a nice, away from the crowds restaurant named Koutouki tou bekri AKA as"cat heaven: 
They were allowed inside out of the hot sun and allowed to rest on a nice and comfortable couch.

My two very well behaved and entertaining dinner companions:

Kissing kittens:

For dinner I had sparkling water with lemon ( my usual) and grilled halloumi cheese with tomatoes and pita.  Very yummy!
And my favorite apple pie with just "a little" ice cream ;)

Here is their contact information if you want to visit them which I highly recommend!

Playful, happy, and healthy kittens!
Below is a beautiful table handcrafted by the owner:
  .

 I will leave you with the message I left in their guest book:

Thank you so much for your visit.  As always, your comments and or questions are always appreciated.  have a wonderful week my friends! 

~Michelle