they're BAAAACK!

More correctly, WE'RE back.  We're in Houston again after a grueling day of travel, the day before yesterday, from Athens.

It was a wonderful vacation.  We had never been to the Mediterranean before, and we enjoyed it immensely, despite the quick-and-dirty way we visited the ports.  From Barcelona we went to Marseilles, Villefranche (should have been Monte Carlo but the sea was too choppy), Livorno, Civitavecchia (Rome), Sorrento, Zakynthos, Crete, and Athens.  We were intrigued with Spain, loved France, enjoyed Italy, and positively adored Greece.  :-D

Despite walking about 50 miles over the last two weeks, and climbing fitbit's equivalent of 344 flights of stairs, i came away with perceptibly more fat than when i started, though my clothes still fit.  It could have been worse -- my husband added more than i did.

I wore a hat during most of our shore trips, and used zinc-based sunscreen where i'm most likely to sunburn.  Despite this, i got a nice little base-tan, which i will cultivate this summer.  I feel that the naturally-garnered vitamin D was very good for me -- i think it buffered some side-effects of the increased amount of "bad carbs" and wine i consumed.

...Cuz i have to confess, i did allow myself more than usual.  Not as high as the officially-recommended carb intake, of course, but decidedly more than i'm accustomed to.  There were repercussions -- knee pain, mostly, and extra fatigue as a result of not having any days off between strenuous outings.

But it was a trade-off i willingly made.  Eating local specialties in the places they were "born" was a deep pleasure.  Sitting in a taverna, drinking the local wine, and sharing a platter of mezes, a stone's-throw from an ancient Roman marketplace has got to be one of the richest delights a history-buff and food-lover can enjoy.  Coming back stateside and picking up supper at the kind of restaurant to be found in an airport was a sad business.

Food is supposed to fuel and rebuild us;  it's an "extra" that it can be such a pleasure.  As i've said more than once, i stay good most of the time so that i can let the stops out every once in awhile.  On our last big evening out, i not only ate most of the risotto that came with my duck breast and foie gras (which followed tuna tartare), i had dessert too -- a variation on a theme by tiramisu.  ;-)  I don't regret a bite of it.