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Sunday October 21, 2007 I am at the computer finishing this post looking out towards Ashland in it's fall splendor. It is very nice to be home!

10/8--10 Paris to London to HOME

October 8, Monday---Paris to London

Checked out of the Ibis and walked to a McDonald’s that I had seen from the bus on the way home from the Louvre yesterday. We had another Egg McMuffin and coffee and I tried to see if I had any airline confirmation (although the reservationist said that I didn’t need one, but he would email it) and fire off a missive to everyone that we were flying home early.

It was about 11am before we got to the Gare du Nord rail station. The station was overwhelmingly crowded with a huge line for the Eurostar (our hope for getting to London). We were told that the Rugby tournament was the cause of so many people there. An announcement was made that all 1^st and 2^nd class tickets had been sold. That was a devastating thing to hear. All I could think about was cancelling everything I had done the day before. We were fairly early in the ticket line, so felt it was worth staying in line to see what was up. We were able to get 2^nd class tickets on the 12:45pm train. That seemed expensive---over $600 for both of us. But, at that point I would have even paid more. Why they said it was full, I don’t know. Even when we got on the train there were empty seats, not too many, but there were some.

There was a group of loud young women in seats in front of us and windows were blocked by the dividing partition of the windows, so it was not the best ride one could have on the Eurostar. But, we made it to London. After finding the right metro to take to Heathrow, it was about an hour ride to get there. There was a shuttle bus that dropped us near the hotel and we also caught in the morning.

We ate dinner in the hotel. We were too pooped and it was too far to go anywhere else. It was actually pretty good food.

October 9, Tuesday---London to Alameda

Got to the airport about 7:45am. We were early, but Virgin Atlantic was really good and helpful on this end for check-in, unlike in San Francisco. From the beginning and the end of the flight, the British crew fed us and treated everyone well. They also were cheery and smiling all the time. We were on the plane for about 12 hours altogether. It was nice to get off. The SF Ag inspectors took away my ham and cheese sandwiches that I had taken off the plane.

Got our bags, found the Bart to W. Oakland, called Erik. He picked us up, went to his house and then Trader Joe’s. By that time, we needed to go to our hotel and sleep.

We slept until about 2:30am. Left Alameda about 10am and got home around 4pm. It was really nice to be home and see the cats, etc. John and Ethel Ann had taken really nice care of things for us. We are grateful.

October 5-7 PARIS

October 5, Friday---PARIS

We got to Paris from Avignon in 3 ½ hours by train. No moseying around in the countryside, but we did see it from the train. We both did not want the hassle of driving in France. We know we gave up a lot, but we did see some pretty countryside. The Rhone river and the Rhone valley are very pretty.

The TGV was the fast train and their service was able for us to get a room in Paris....a very difficult thing to do because of the World Rugby Championships. We have our room through Sunday night.

When we got off the train and went into the Metro station, it was pretty overwhelming. A security guard was most helpful in figuring out the lines we wanted and Ray figured out the machine to get the tickets and I guided us through all the direction signs. The hotel is located at the south edge of the old city. We took the #14 Metro and changed to the #4. Of course, getting off the Metro we didn't know which way to go to the hotel as the map was pretty vague. We walked several unnecessary blocks until someone in a Pfizer building was able to help us head in the right direction.

We stayed at the Ibis hotel. Very basic, once again. It did have a nice hair dryer, one of the few encountered on the trip.

Ray and I are not certain why people like to travel. We are really longing for our own beds and pillows, good morning coffee, sitting at our computers, looking out at the lovely view, showers that have doors or shower curtains and shower heads that are fixed to the wall, larger spaces, a lot fewer people, friends, cats....I could go on! And on!...

October 6, Saturday---Paris

Took the Metro into town and walked through the Tuilleries, Place de Concorde, across the Alexander Bridge looking for Musee d’Orsay. Thinking that we found it we actually went to the national Petite Museum across the street from Le Grande Musee. After that we finally found the Musee d’Orsay. When finished with that we were really tired. We must have walked miles.

October 7, Sunday---Paris

This morning I was determined to be able to place a phone call to Virgin Atlantic to see if we could get our flight changed (regardless of cost) and come home before scheduled. Using my MCI Costco phone card, I was able to make the right connection. It used up almost all of my minutes, but I was able to get the reservations changed (for $500)to come home on Tuesday, two weeks ahead of schedule. It was worth it to pay the extra air fare. J I, then called Erik and asked him to call John and Ethel Ann and let them know we would be home sooner than expected and that we would call them as soon as we got back to the US. I asked the hotel to make a reservation in London near Heathrow for Monday night, so we could get to the airport on time. With that done, we set out to find the Louvre museum. We did and we saw a great deal of it.

Exhausted, we stopped at a nearby outdoor café and I had my first Croque-Monsieur (grilled ham and cheese sandwich) and a lovely cold beer.

Au revoir!

10/3---10/4 AVIGNON

Stayed at La Roche Hotel near train station the first night. We were a little leery about staying in the “roach” hotel, but I had booked it online and we were committed. The entry was very charming, rustic, old world style---tile floors, a raised breakfast area with green checked cloths and dark wood chairs---candles and artwork all around. The rooms all surround an old garden area---very comfortable and charming. The rooms had double doors and windows, the first layer being wood lath painted in a turquoise color. Our room was all yellow including most of the furniture. The bedspreads were bright red (good quality woven spreads) and a table with a yellow and red traditional Provence patterned cloth and 2 yellow chairs. I almost felt like I was in Van Gogh’s bedroom in Arles. The hotel was named after a portal (named for St. Roche, a healer of plague victims and patron saint of dogs) into the old walled city of Avignon. Well...two days in Avignon. On Thursday, 10/5 we will be headed via TGV to Paris. The young man at the train station found us a room at the Ibis chain for 55 Euro per night for 3 nights. We will be at the Montrouge Ibis, near the Porte D'Orleans, 33 Rue Barbes, Paris. Tel: 1 42316700. The TGV, 2nd class tickets were $127 one way for the 2 of us. I think that was very inexpensive. If we had been able to change our reservations this morning to come home we would have. We were both ready! If we do, it looks like we have to call and so far I haven't been able to get a call through, so maybe we'll be stuck in Europe until 10/23 :{} This has been a really weird trip. We were kind of disappointed in Greece and have been sort of wandering aimlessly since we left. We don't really have a purpose of being here and think longingly of the comforts of home. We have 19 days left to fill...maybe we will make it. Avignon is turning out to be a more interesting and pleasant city (at least the old part---and we are staying right next to it) than we first thought. The Papal Palace is a huge Gothic structure built ca.1300. For about 70 years the Papacy presided in Avignon, but eventually the Romans won out, although for a time there were two popes.

10/3---AIX-EN-PROVENCE

Stayed at a decent hotel not far from the bus station ---(Hotel Saint Christophe--Situated in the centre of town, quiet and comfortable, an interesting 19th century traditional local style building, entirely renovated in 1994 with an Art Deco style). Hôtel SAINT CHRISTOPHE - Aix en provence - France For 93 Euro ($132), it should be at least comfortable! We had the best sandwiches in Aix (Ex as the French pronounce it). A little hole in the wall near the square. The sandwich was Lebanese or Turkish and called a Chawerma. http://www.answers.com/schwarma The cook took a very thin pita type round, split it half way open with his fingers and folded one side down to create a flap. He then spread some chili paste and mayonnaise in it….stuffed it with lettuce and tomato, then took slice pork or lamb, not sure which (which came from a tall vertical spit) and onions from the grill, and some French fries and stuffed those items into the pocket, folded the front flap and back flap over and threw it back on the grill again for a short time. It was one of the best things, next to the Moussaka in Iraklion. that we ate. It was about 4pm and we had not had anything since breakfast and I was starved. We saw him making this sandwich for a woman, not knowing what to call it I just asked for the same. It was so good, we went back for two of them later for our dinner and before we left for Avignon in the morning, got two more.

Before leaving Aix, we searched for the Musee Granet museum which was said to have some minor Cezanne’s and a few other good pictures. Directions to the museum were not well marked, we finally found it after giving up, but didn’t have time to go in before having to walk back and catch the bus to Avignon.

9/30-10/1 Milan to NICE

Went to see downtown and the Duomo, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duomo_di_Milano then got on the train to Nice. On the way to see the Duomo, Ray almost got his pocket picked. Fortunately, it was a botched attempt and his wallet and our passports remained in our possession. Arrived Nice about 8:30pm and found a close hotel---Hotel Normandie for 50 Euros. Talked to a very interesting retired eye surgeon on the train. Suggested Aix en Provence and Arles, so I guess we'll go there. The trip from Milan to Nice was 66 Euros per person and was a very nice trip along the French Riviera. The Hotel Normandie location is good. We walked a lot today, and will take the train Tuesday to Aix-en-Provence. We don't know what we are doing or where we are headed to next. I think we have too much time on our hands. We have been talking to different people and end up going to places that they suggest, slowly making our way westward. 10/1---Monday---NICE You may not believe this but I am sitting in a McDonalds looking out at the Mediterranean in Nice! The picture doesn't quite seem right does it? The reason for it, besides the Egg McMuffin and coffee is they have the free Wi Fi. :) We walked a couple of hours uphill to find the Matisse Museum. It took us through a very nice and upscale section of Nice…pretty houses and landscaping and views. The museum was a disappointment, but the walk was good….a bit hard on the knees and hips.

9/29 Saturday---Nafplion to Athens to MILAN

Left Nafplion by bus early, then Metro to Athens airport. Ran into Pierre from Montreal for about the 4th time. He was picking up his girlfriend at the airport. We booked EasyJet. Check-in and gate confusion took most of extra time that we had---one person checking in a couple hundred travelers, then most of us were sent to wrong gate at opposite ends of airport. EasyJet ran very well out of Gatwick to Athens.

Met an Italian on the bus from the airport who was very helpful. He was born and raised in Milan and was coming home to visit his mother. He lives in Switzerland now. He led us to the street where our hotel was booked, however, the Hotel Mediolanum sent us to the Sanpi hotel, about a 10 minute walk from the other hotel, late at night in a strange city. Very odd. The hotel was quite nice. It was a good buy for $127 in a big city. They wanted 135 Euro (ca. $192) for the next night, so we decided to go to Nice.

Since it was late and we had walked quite a ways, we didn't want to walk too far to find something to eat. The first restaurant we came to was at the end of the block (almost right across the street) from the hotel. It was small and busy. They had a table about 10 feet inside the door that was tiered and piled high with all sorts of lovely fruits, desserts, hors d'oeuvres, and who know what else. It was probably the prettiest and most romantic spread I've ever seen. We walked a few feet past, and then decided to go back and check the menu. We decided to wait for a table (about 5 minutes). Waiters were scurrying and carrying plates of food, wine, water, and dishing up from the magnificent table of food. We could see people cooking in the kitchen, using pans that look like they had been around for 50 years and used on a daily basis. We sat at a small table close to another small table. The couple there were from Australia and had been cycling for a bout 4 weeks all over Europe. They were headed home the following day---a 24 hour plane ride. Ugh! Shortly we were served a delicious appetizer from the table and then another. Our wine came in a decorated pottery pitcher and was the best since leaving home. Greece did not offer up any good house wines. We had a basket of lovely fresh bread and our pasta dishes were heavenly. Il Carpaccio was the name of the restaurant and if you ever get to Milan, make a point of going there.

9/27-9/28---Nafplion to Mycenae

 We had a nice rest in this charming place. It appears tourist season is pretty much over here as we were the only guests in the hotel the first night---a couple came the following nights. Streets are fairly empty as well as the sidewalk cafes. We had a disappointing meal last night. Hope for better tonight. We found an Italian restaurant, but he didn’t serve until 8pm. We went back and had a really good wood-fired pizza and a pretty good house wine. We are deciding what to do next. We might fly to Milan, take a train over to France, take a ferry from Patra to Venice. Who knows.?? The travel agent quit at 3:30 just as we wanted some info. We will go to the Mycenaen ruins tomorrow as well as Epidaurus and hope to get to Athens on Saturday to fly out, or Patras and ferry out. The concierge is off doing something. We had to use our key to get in after coming back from lunch. We were given a key to the front door. We did take the bus to Mycenae. There were umpteen tour buses there. We did not go to Epidaurus---tired of old rocks and tourists and it meant we would have to stay another day in Nafplion.

9/25-26 Athens to NAFPLION

9/25 Tuesday ATHENS

On the way to the bus we grab a bite---spinach pie AND hot dog and cheese in a flat bread thing. Those two items are pretty good quick food. We go to the airport and wait a couple of hours for our flight (Easy Jet) back to Athens. The flight took about 45 minutes. We take the Metro and go back to our previous hotel, the Phidias to see if we can get a room. We do. Ray is not feeling well because of a cold. Had a couple of bad nights and is tired. We go to the corner cafe for a beer and Slouvaki and Moussaka. We also see the Acropolis all lit up with the full moon rising over it. That was a very fine site!!!

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9/26 Wednesday---Athens to Nafplion.

We take the Metro to Omonia station walk a couple of blocks to catch the 051 bus to the Main bus station where we catch the bus to Nafplion. We meet a Canadian from Montreal named Pierre on his way to Nafplion, too. Saw him again a bit later in Nafplion. I climb very steep and many steps to the Marianne Pension. They are full for the night. As it turned out, I was rather glad. We would have been exhausted carrying luggage up there and going in and out several times a day. They did have a wonderful view and had a lovely terrace restaurant. If you are young and fit, it would be a good place to stay. We walk down a bit and stop at the Hotel Polyxenia (Hotel of many strangers). Polyxenia Hotel is located in the picturesque alleys of the old Town of Napflion. It is an old mansion dating back to 1850, fully renovated with respect for the traditional architecture of Nafplion. For 70 Euros including breakfast we have a wonderfully and charmingly appointed room with a nice large bathroom---a real shower and a hair dryer! Wow!! Those two items have been scarce, so far.

9/24 IRAKLION

We changed hotels and went to the El Greco hotel. It was much better for the same price. The bathrooms are odd. They've all been redone. There are covered up patches, etc. It has a handheld shower nozzle, no shower walls or curtains, a bitty stool to sit on and VERY small space and a drain in the tile floor outside the shower as well. One thing I’ve noticed about most of the bathrooms, is that they are tiled all the way to the ceiling. On Tuesday, we took a bus ride to Knossos. Knossos is about 5 miles from Iraklion. I was surprised that the structures and columns were so small. It appears so monumental in photos. It was a very nice location. Pines and nice breeze around it. It's been windy and not all the boats are going to the islands. We may go back to the islands after the Peloponnese or go to Italy or France. Ray is a bit disappointed with Greece. Lots of tourists, very few English speaking. There were a lot of French, German, Greek, and Australian groups (Aussie language isn’t quite English J). The cities are crowded, noisy, and dirty... I think that the magic he expected by visiting the sites is not there. He has had a couple of good experiences though.

9/23 Chania to IRAKLION

Had a nice breakfast at the Arkadi Hotel 1866 Square Chania, Crete. Nice people.

We took a bus from Chania to Iraklion, a 3 hour bus trip. The bus was really nice---very new with clean comfortable seats and some leg room. We sat up front and had an unobstructed view. We took a cheap hotel, the first one we came to---the KRIS. Not so good. The people were really nice, but it was an uncomfortable room.

We walked to the Archaeological Museum where they have a small, but stunning collection of Minoan objects excavated from Knossos, where we will be going tomorrow. Walked over to the ferry terminal to see about getting to the islands. Think we'll go to a travel agent tomorrow. We went around the corner and found a nice little restaurant. Ray ordered a Moussaka that was out of this world. Best meal of the trip so far. We went back the next night and I ordered it. It was really delicious. Ray had a nice grilled pork chop. The name of the place looked like Beyyaza. Nice woven red tablecloths in a Greek style, clean and charmingly decorated.

9/22 CHANIA

Walked around to the Archaeological Museum which holds a lot of Minoan pottery from gravesites in and around Chania. The museum itself is a 16th century Venetian Catholic Church of St. Francis. We walked along the old harbor. Many restaurants and old Venetian churches, old buildings, shops, narrow streets. Again, like Athens you'll find empty areas full of trash, sidewalks that are extremely hazardous, motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic and pedestrians, and autos being driven aggressively.

Ray has gone out for a haircut and I will be going out to find an Internet cafe to, presumably upload this info. :) I was not able to find a wireless spot, tried uploading photos, but no luck. Ray came back with a VERY short haircut. Not a very good one, either. :) We were told that a restaurant called Antigone had very good seafood. Ray was determined to have a Cretan special called Kakavia, a fish soup. It only came in a Kilo. We tried to order a half kilo, but the chef wouldn't do it. So, for 50 Euros we waited for 2 hours for this Kilo of fish soup to be made. When it arrived, the waiter who was a most charming young man ladled out a disgusting mass of whole fish, skin, bones, fins and all along with some potatoes and set it on a platter. Then he dished out the soup. It had a lot of lemon flavor, not too fishy, but it wasn't really very good, not outstanding as it seemed like it ought to for a special and pricey dish. I think the waiter tried to make up for the soup with their lovely desserts and bottle of Raki.

9/20-21 Athens to CHANIA

9/20-21---Thursday & Friday Athens to Chania Took a walk around the area in the morning. Took a bus over to Piraeus to catch the Ferry to Crete. It didn’t sail until after 9pm, but they let us on about 4pm. The facilities weren’t bad, they even had a small basket of fresh fruit and some chocolates in our room. We enjoyed being on the deck before sailing. We had a bit of rain, a little thunder and some lightning. It was dark for the whole crossing and we didn’t sleep too well, We arrived at Souda around 6am, then we were bussed to Chania about a 25 minute bus ride. We got off somewhere in town….we really didn’t know which stop to get off and we didn’t have hotel reservations. It was about 7 in the morning and there was a nice pastry shop where we got some coffee, too. As it got lighter we walked a while, we hoped in the right direction. We did, and found the Hotel Arkadi. It was on the edge of the old town, within walking distance of everything. It was clean and comfortable and provided a very nice continental breakfast.

For dinner we sat at a table next to an old vine covered wall looking out over tables towards an old venetian stone wall. There seemed to be a residence behind the walls. There was a turquoise colored iron gate with a calico cat sitting hunched behind the gate. Above the wall was a beautiful bougainvillea in bloom along with cactus and other vines. There was a very nice track of music flowing out from behind us---a very romantic setting indeed. After ordering a platter of mezedes (Greek appetizers) for two (which looked like it could feed at least four) a group of mostly blonde Northern Europeans chose to take up residence at the restaurant. There were at least 10 adults and 8 children ranging from 18 months to 8 years of age. Ray and I looked at each other and said, "here goes the romance". The waiter who had little to do before their arrival suddenly had lots to do. After a bit, they all got settled down. The children ran around a lot, but didn't bother anyone really. Other people came and by the time we left there were others waiting to be seated. This was about 8:30pm. We went back to the Arkadi Hotel and slept until 7am. We both felt restored.

9/17-20 Athens

9/17-Monday We will be off to Gatwick airport (EasyJet) in about an hour. John is driving us there. We told him we could easily take a bus, but he insists on taking us. They have been so hospitable. We've had nice British style food and fun company. It has been a nice start to our trip. The dollar doesn't go very far here (over $2 to the British Pound). For the amount of days we were here, we could have spent a great deal more than we have. I don't see how people can live well here. We got into Athens about 10pm. and took the Metro, about an hour ride We got off at Thissio station. We had no idea which way to go once we got out on the street. Ended up under a street lamp, trying to orient ourselves on a map. There were lots of cafes with people enjoying the mild evening air in the area. Finally, Ray asked a waiter which way to go and we found the Phidias Hotel, just a couple of blocks up towards the Acropolis from the station. About 11:30pm we went out to find something to eat. A bit of a change for us to stay up so late.

Inadvertently, I discovered that Athens provides free wifi internet access to citizens and tourists. So, I am typing this in the hotel room, which is not the greatest, but the location is excellent. This very cool to be able to sit here and get messages out. I was afraid that I wouldn't find much use for this tablet. Well, the day is getting warmer. Oh yes, this morning we went out for breakfast, paid 3.6 Euros (ca. $5.08) for 1 cup of coffee (no refills). When we got back to the hotel we found that they serve a continental breakfast. Oh well!

9/18---Athens

Walked up to the Pnyx Hill---the meeting place of the Athenian democratic assembly--- and the Aereopagus by the Acropolis, found the Plaka (the old district) on the north side of the Acropolis. Saw ruins of the Roman Agora and Hadrian’s library. Sat outside of Taverna to rest and have a cold beer and sandwich.

9/19---Athens

Walked around in several circles trying to find the Archaeological Museum, ca. 3 hours worth of walking. Did go through some interesting neighborhoods as well as middle of town, traffic and people. Found the Titania Hotel where Heather’s parents were, but missed them.

9/15-16 Henley

9/15 Saturday

John & Jen’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren drove up and spent most of the day with us. Jen fixed a wonderful spread and we ate outside on the patio. The weather has been really nice.

9/16 Sunday

Jen had the day off. We watched John’s son play Cricket and then went to Henley and we walked around a bit near the waterfront---the river Thames. Henley escaped most of the devastating floods a couple of months prior to our visit.

9/13-14 British Museum

9/13 Thursday

We will be driving up to Oxford and Blenheim Castle soon. Henley is a charming town with beautiful countryside. I'll be taking pictures today and posting them tomorrow. (Didn’t happen)

We made it to Oxford and saw some of the schools and went to Blenheim Castle, http://www.blenheimpalace.com/index.htm the 11^th Duke of Marlborough's residence. Quite a spectacular place. I'll send some pictures or post them to my blog when I get it figured out. I made the mistake of deleting them from the camera after downloading to a folder in John's computer.

There were several colleges in Oxford. Seemed like a nice town. Ray thought the college girls dressed a lot nicer than at home, the boys, too. We did not see the pants dragging on the ground fraying the edges and the pants below the split in the buttocks, the chains looping from to the knees from belt loops or young women’s tummy overlapping the belt lines.

We felt even more in tune with London time today. So, adjusting has been fairly easy after the first day.

9/14 Friday

John took us to a bus stop to catch the Oxford Tube into London, Victoria station, then we had to find a bus to somewhere else. We walked several blocks, some of them unnecessary, to find the British Museum. Before getting there we stopped at Munchkin’s and had a beer with some fish and chips and mushy peas. The mushy peas were good. J

We only had a couple of hours in the museum and were not able to see everything we really wanted to see because of having to get back to Henley before the rush traffic.

Later on, I'll download today's pictures from London and the British Museum. Most of our time was spent on buses and trying to find the proper bus line to get on to. We asked a lot of people, a lot of questions.

9/13 Thursday

We will be driving up to Oxford and Blenheim Castle soon. Henley is a charming town with beautiful countryside. I'll be taking pictures today and posting them tomorrow. (Didn’t happen)

We made it to Oxford and saw some of the schools and went to Blenheim Castle, http://www.blenheimpalace.com/index.htm the 11^th Duke of Marlborough's residence. Quite a spectacular place. I'll send some pictures or post them to my blog when I get it figured out. I made the mistake of deleting them from the camera after downloading to a folder in John's computer.

There were several colleges in Oxford. Seemed like a nice town. Ray thought the college girls dressed a lot nicer than at home, the boys, too. We did not see the pants dragging on the ground fraying the edges and the pants below the split in the buttocks, the chains looping from to the knees from belt loops or young women’s tummy overlapping the belt lines.

We felt even more in tune with London time today. So, adjusting has been fairly easy after the first day.

9/11- 12 Departure and Henley

Erik drove us to the BART station in Oakland. He helped us get the tickets, etc. We waited for about 10 minutes before getting on. Another couple got on with their bags and we chatted for a bit. They were on their way to Paris to spend 3 weeks in France.

At SFO, lines were long to check in. We stood, as it turned out, in the wrong line to check into our flight. We could have gone to a much shorter line as we had checked-in online. Lesson #1. Our flight was actually not too bad. We had an empty seat in our row to use! Hurray! So, we had a bit of space to move about in. Virgin Atlantic gave us a nice soft chenille and brightly colored (their colors inside the plane---gold, red, and blue) blanket and a little packet with eyeshades and toothbrush and a tiny tube of toothpaste to make our trip more comfortable.

It took us about an hour and a half to get through passport check and security, so Ray’s friend John Hancock had quite a wait for us. He drove us to Henley, I think it was about a 45 minute drive. It was so weird sitting in the (our US) driver’s seat as a passenger, not driving and having cars coming at you on the opposite side of the road that you are used to.

We met Jen, John’s wife. We unloaded our bags and they took us a few miles through the gorgeous English countryside on a single lane to a charming old Pub (I didn’t get a picture, being kind of rummy). We had a nice meal and a few beers which made it harder to stay awake. We were able to stay up (with a few catnaps) until about 9:45pm, London time. I slept until 8:45 this morning, so feel pretty good. The bed the Hancock’s gave us was a wonderful bed. I slept late every morning that we were there.