Rest of Cruise to Shreveport to Paris, back to Shreveport

After Odessa, we traveled to Constana, Romania, where I spent the day at a small Greek ruins which was a former settlement from way back in the day. The following day, we were in Nessebur, Bulgaria, which was an adorable little town with some of the oldest wooden churches I have ever seen. The entire town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and it definitely lived up to the high standards of UNESCO! After Bulgaria, it was back to Istanbul, where I caught my flight to Amsterdam. I packed up my belongings and left the following day for Shreveport. It was a bit bittersweet, and when I finally left and had to leave the keys in the apartment, I was sad... The flight home took a bit longer than usual, owing to the fact that I flew through Chicago (in order to fly United to see how things are gonna change when Continental becomes United next year - and let me tell you, I was NOT impressed...).

In Shreveport, it was good to hang out with my niece and nephew, but the big order of business was to find me a place to live. I did find the most adorable little house.



It was for sale by owner. I put in an offer which was accepted. Days later, I was on my way to Paris to visit two friends. The long weekend was a good one. Paris really is such a magical city, and it had been ten years since I'd been there, so it was time to see the sights again! After a great long weekend, it was back to the heat of Louisiana...

After receiving my inspection report, there was a little more negotiating to do on the house. The sellers agreed to everything I asked for, so we were on for a quick closing! We closed on Wednesday (August 10), and I set up the roofer to put on a new roof and a flooring guy to refinish all the hardwood floors in the house. I will be gone for the next two weeks, so hopefully all the work is done by then time I get back!

I am leaving this afternoon for two weeks in Turkey. I will know three guys in the group (we traveled through India together last year), so it will be a mini-reunion of sorts (we'll miss you, Rob and Ken!). There will be a few new guys on the trip, too, so it will be nice to meet some new folks as well!

I should be better at blogging on this trip! Until Istanbul!!!

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