Happiness is LEAVING Florida!

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Lakeland, FL

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Visiting with our friend, Maureen. She and I were in the Peace Corp together...many years ago. Such a serene view from her patio/pool area. Lakeland has many beautiful lakes in the downtown area. They also have many swans. Queen Elizabeth II donated a pair of swans from her royal flock to Lakeland 5 years after she became queen. The first swans arrived to Lake Morton in 1957 and their descendents are still going strong. It also has Florida Southern College, where many of the buildings were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is the largest single site collection of his architecture in the world.
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Porto, Sintra & Lisbon, Portugal (Oct 11-18) Part II

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Lisboa..such a beautiful city. The tiles continued, but more on the sidewalks and less on the buildings. Lisbon had a huge earthquake in 1775. It was the most destructive and deadly ones in history. 85% of Lisbon's buildings, palaces and museums were destroyed. The twisting narrow streets were replaced by broad avenues. The reconstruction was also one of the first uses of prefabricated buildings. June 17, 1665. The Battle of Montes Claros. It was the last major battle in The Portuguese Restoration War..and the most important battle in the country's history.  Beautiful sidewalks along Av de Liberdade..the main Lisbon drag. Not a cable car, but a funicular...to help with the San Francisco like hills. Santa Justa Lift for amazing Lisbon views. Basically a huge tourist trap. If you ever go, hit me up and I'll let you know how to get in the back way and see the sights..for free and without the hour wait! Vie...
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Cruising....Venice to Dubrovnik

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Such a beautiful city..Venice. It was PACKED with tourists ( like us) but so amazing. Ambulance rushing with siren on Coolest doorbells we saw in an alley Our obligatory gondola ride. Luckily we did it away from the high touristy places. Sitting watching the view at our hotel's boat taxi dock. That's the crowds I'm talking about! Clock tower in Piazza San Marco. Amazing how it keeps a digital time ( half in roman numerals) Look closely and you'll see it's  12:50  ( XII    50) Piazza San Marco is one of the lowest points in Venice. It's almost at the same level as the Venetian lagoon.  During high tides water bubbles out of the sewer drains. At low tide it empties out. Not much leeway for flooding! MARCO POLO'S house..as seen from our gondola. From the 1200's. Bye to Venice and on to Ravenna, Italy Rav...
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