A little more of Georgia!

Yes, a bit more of a whinge regarding Wi-Fi.  I DO wonder how people living out here manage.  Good connectivity - bad connectivity...and you never know which side of the coin you'll have any given morning.  When I see I'm connected, I type like the wind.

Past Sunday...back in church with my daughter.  No steeple, no religious paintings, no heavenly portraits, no stained-glass...a big, open auditorium with an enormous stage and even bigger, flat tv screens.  HOW did the morning begin?  WOW and Lordy - Freddy Mercury's song BLASTING:  'Find Me Somebody To Love'. REALLY?  I can still feel the vibration of the bass and perhaps the drums in my ears.  Riveting.  Astounding.  The songs kept coming and I did not feel like sitting when they finished!  WOW - again. If I remember the message of the service while being entertained by a precious dog (see further below!)...it was this:  One lightening-fast moment of instant gratification can change the course of your future for decades or even a lifetime.  Adults understand this once they become adults.  The teenagers surrounding me appeared not to hear until the message of 'texting and driving' and 'drink driving' landed on their ears.  They perked right up - GOOD.

Downtown Athens rocks all weekend.  They even have a little hop-on and hop-off bus.  Any establishment that was open was packed.  The buzz was happy and relaxed.  Yes, there were heaps of university students as you would imagine, but families and older couples were out and about, too.

WHAT a joy, complete JOY to see university students of various cultures sharing a beer, a kiss, or sharing a laugh. No doubt the University of Georgia could teach a thing or two to the rest of the planet.  This was a perfect world for a perfect moment in time.  What a grand planet it would be if every child could receive a proper education.  IMAGINE:  John Lennon (I hear him singing now...)

My daughter and I explored the downtown streets and only wandered into a spot when we found one intriguing.  We did not have to search for long:  Walker's Coffee and Pub!  Quirky.  Dark.  Rustic.  Eccentric.  Fabulously Fun.  Plus the female bartender is:  CONFIDENT and KNOWS exactly how to make a very mean martini.  I met a beautiful dog.  This is the FIRST pub I have encountered in the States that allowed dogs.  YAY!!!  In church there was a gorgeous long-haired dog that looked like a golden retriever.  I felt certain this dog was a service dog, but he did everything in his power to attract attention and that tail wagged perpetually - NOT even sure now that he was a service dog.  He was toooooo much fun 

to watch!  

We left Walker's in search of a place that matched our mood.  We walked in and out of 2 other establishments I suppose because of the noise and some head-banging music.  We landed in Amici's and were told we had a 30 minute wait.  'No Worries!'  This gave us a chance to chat with the locals and the place was filled to the brim.  Tables were flipping all night.  The salads are presented perfectly and tasted yummy; they were just the right size, too.  Next served was a petite, crispy, thin Italian veggie pizza.  The vino on offer was really nice.  Both of us stuck with Sauvignon Blanc because we started with a pretty 

hefty cocktail!

Athens is a gem of a town.  Since the birth of my grand-daughter I have lived in hope that she would attend university in Australia.  Now I know that if she chooses Athens for her further education she would be one very fortunate young lady. Athens has a cool and gentle spirit about it.

Visit Athens when you can. You will leave refreshed. 

Posted with a smile by Blanco of The Roaming Stevens.  Tinto is in Budapest suffering some mighty cold weather, but the sun is shining upon him.  Life is good.  Some days you have to look a little harder for all the good around us. 

PS:  This post was ready to submit about 6:00am my time and then 'WHOOOOOOOOSH' - I hit publish and ERROR OCCURRED.  LOST IT ALL.  Aaaaaggghhhhh - this type of scenario used to happen when I first began working on computers, but not now. Anyone who enjoys writing understands that while experiencing the momentum your fingers can't/won't stop typing.  It is difficult (for me) to recreate.  Every day I continue to learn:  patience, empathy, compassion, AND gratitude!