all is well...

Kiskassa, reasonably warm living room, good tennis on the telly from the open in Melbourne...
We try leisurely potter about getting our phone work again (done) bank things (hopefully done) cleaning up a very dusted up house (a job never done) try to entice the pussycats to like us again... Bonzo put on a lot of weight, a right little furball... Gus hasn't climbed the front gate since we are back, he's being a very good dog, I think he doesn't want us to leave again...

The RedCoach we took from Gainesville to Orlando was the fabbest luxurious one we've ever seen, just 3 big cushioned seats per line, with a leathered leg-rest! The flight from Orlando to London was much less fun, (thank you BA) with uncomfortable seats and a continuous 3 hours of turbulence. I watched Avatar through that time, I won't remember it with fondness, the never ending film, that had the same shooting, violence and heroism will solve all our troubles theme.

Arrived home with the mother of jet-lags, lingering still. Timi and Feri looked after thinks well,
no problems. We were lucky to have two days with beautiful +15C+ sunshine, helping us to re-settle into winter - that managed to re-assert itself since yesterday, with temperatures under +5C, fog, rain, and today, a bit of snow. First night was a bit cold - I put the bedding on the radiators, but still... But the house warmed through quicker than expected.
Back to the diet of borsófőzelék fokhagymás pulykamellel (green pea-pulp with garlic turkey pieces) - whatever is the pot-luck from the still very full freezer.

The Big News: Takeaway Pizza! We just have to try it tomorrow - you know, support your local enterprise... The Újpetre Napsugár is finally in business. Otherwise there seems to be no change in the village. There are doubts about the new mayor, the usual christmas dos for pensioners and kids were not upto standard, the village christmas tree looked pityful, the administrator was not employed by the alleged loads of companies who promised to register in the village to bring tons of money... well, I hold judgement till next week, the next council meeting.

the photos are a mixed bunch - I am still working my way through pictures made by two cameras - our old one and a lovely up-to-date-to-us, that used to belong to Sharon, who insisted we should have it as they now use a newer one... anyways, there's one with us and a sponge-merchant in Tarpon Springs, a lovely key where Melody took us; the apartment next door to Martin's and Sharon's, where Drew and Szonya stayed over christmas; a New Orleans house with its Christmas lights on Burgundy street where we stayed in the Hotel St Pierre; the best picture of a Manatee in the Wakula national park, on our visit with Donna and Marta, on the way back from New Orleans; and the new dinner-set we got for christmas from Pali and Erika... just to demonstrate how futile it is to tell you all about Florida or even all about Kiskassa even though this later is somewhat smaller...

So long, Florida!

We are off tomorrow, with some trepidation about the end of a beautiful holiday, a long journey, and the worry about re-heating those mudbrick walls in Kiskassa, if indeed the water and the heating system will cooperate.

We did go back and the butterflies were much more impressing alive than dead, one insisted on being intimate with Allan - was sitting on his mouth (you not allowed to touch them you know) A kindly attendant took away the enormous beauty that is the most gorgeous blue when airborne.

We had a tasty Chinese sitting next to yet another lake watching the wildlife,
Martin made the artful photo.

We returned to the alligators of Paynes Prairie and this time we had an unexpected encounter with a large one, just 6 feet from us! I nearly had a heart attack, but ofcourse Alan insisted on having a good look (he knew it was too cold for it to move dangerously fast, he said later...) I was too frightened to fidget with the camera... anyways, just to illustrate, that I couldn't really tell about all our adventures here... all the food, all the beers and margaritas Alan had, all the kilos we managed to put on... see you back on the old, cold continent overthere...

countdown...

just a week to go before returning to the land of snow and ice...
Meanwhile we had the loveliest of New Year/Alan bday eve; taken for a meal by kids,
then the Beatles band was above all expectations, playing difficult songs real well,
and of course a few of the more well known ones. The atmosphere was good, lots of merry and good natured revellers. Before going to this, we managed to play a bit of table tennis in a pool hall, and I ended up playing with a bunch of youngsters and winning a round-the-table game, I earned some ovation and an offer of a drink... On New years Day we got ourselves together and were driven by Doris (the kid's comfy little toyota) to St Augustine, the oldest town in the US! It was a bit over-run with tourists, but it is a small city of beautiful buildings and a well preserved Spanish fort next to a pretty harbour and draw-bridge. We stayed at a beach hotel a few miles away from the town centre, so next morning had a chance to dip our toes into a rather cold but very impressive Atlantic Ocean.
Every day we had a bit of adventure here in Gainesville, travelling the city bus we visited the Natural Museum with it's butterfly collection, though we failed to find the well hidden entrance to the bit with the tropical forest where one can walk amongst the most exotic butterflies, but when we asked we were given tickets to redress the hitch.
So we are getting to the last bit of this incredible holiday packed with adventures and good times with the kids... I will have to sum up our impressions about the US... soon... before all becomes memory when one asks - has it really happened?? The weird picture which I failed to turn round is the meditation building of the University, lovely spot next to Lake Alice in the middle of the enormous campus.