In Memoriam; Kathi's Father

Charles Edward "Ned" White, widower of Lucy Marie Mullin White, passed away on 18 June 2005, four months after Marie, his wife of 55 years. He was born October 25th, 1926, in what was formerly Norfolk County and is now the South Norfolk area of Chesapeake, Virginia. Ned was retired from the U.S. civil service for which he was a supply analyst at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. For many years before his death, Ned devoted himself wholly to the care and support of his wife, Marie -- a devotion that was impressive far beyond that which is usually encountered.

Ned and Marie were predeceased by their daughters, Marlene (in 1971) and Sue (in 1987). Ned is survived by their middle daughter, Kathi, and husband Chuck, as well as by four grandchildren, Shawn Green and wife April; Karissa Calvo and husband Dante; Jill Kumm; and Julie Tolby and husband Justin. Also surviving are three great-grandchildren, Tyler Tolby and Kayla and Gage Green.

Ned served in the U.S. Army during the occupation of Japan after World War II. He was an outspoken patriot, keenly interested in the world around him and enjoyed nothing as much as a spirited discussion of history or current affairs. His family always knew that he loved them and he will be missed by all.

To Russia from Greece

From Santorini we travelled, via Athens and Frankfurt, to St. Petersburg, Russia, where Chuck (and several others from the office) were attending a conference on the technology of fast ships, followed by a major Defense trade show. Altogether, a week in that city. And once again, neither of us had been in St. Petersburg (or any other part of Russia) before.

While the men were "working" at the conference and show, Kathi got a chance to do quite a bit of touring with Carol O'Neil (wife of John O'Neil, a colleague of Chuck's; they happen to live in Monterey, too, where they will return in a couple of months); and with several other of the wives who had accompanied their husbands.

St. Petersburg calls itself the "Venice of the north" (I think Amsterdam uses the same nickname; I wonder how many cities call themselves the Venice of something). Touring this city is both interesting and sad. It's a city that, like the rest of Russia, is badly run down -- but it has "good bones". There is a huge legacy of great architecture and beautiful buildings, though many are in great need of maintenance, refurbishment and cleaning. A few selected ones have received some recent attention and show how beautiful the city could be.

In the center of the city it seems as if every other building is (was?) a palace of some sort. Several of these are available for sightseeing and some house great museums. The most well-known, of course, is the Hermitage (<-picture) -- a former royal palace that now houses the world's largest art collection. When the ladies visited it, they found it too crowded to enjoy and were dismayed to see how poorly much of the art is displayed and how poorly it is being protected. Interestingly, one category of buildings that, collectively, has been most restored is the churches -- most of which were used for decidedly non-religious purposes during the Soviet era, as warehouses and other things. But since the breakup of the USSR many of them have been restored to their former glory -- and I do mean glory. (<- St. Isaac's Cathedral) They are, of course, in the Russian baroque or rococo style, with what seems to be acres of gold leaf. The architecture and decoration are both breathtaking.

On Saturday we took a trip by high speed hydrofoil boat outside the city proper to Peterhof -- the "country home" of Tsar Peter the Great, the founder of St. Petersburg. It, too, is one of those amazing displays of wealth and power, as the pictures show.

St. Petersburg has become a fairly popular European tourist destination, though there are still a number of downsides, such as undrinkable water and, apparently, a pretty high level of street crime, some aimed at tourists -- though I hasten to add that none of our party encountered any problems. The Russians still have a long way to go to shed their long-practiced government paranoia and the civil population hasn't yet learned about service in business. To see pictures of St. Petersburg sites, visit: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/666028

Athens and Santorini

On 17 June we left for a weekend in Athens on the way to one of the Greek islands -- Santorini -- which many consider one of the most beautiful. Santorini was the sight of a scientific conference Chuck attended (and which he partially funded for the Office of Naval Research).

We spent Friday night and the weekend in Athens -- the first time there for either of us; we were with Jim and Susan DeCorpo. Jim works with Chuck. Naturally, we visited the Acropolis and the ancient Agora market. We also enjoyed wandering in the Plaka, the old part of Athens, with narrow, winding streets and lots of shops and restaurants.

A very nice local cab driver gave us a great driving tour of the city, including sites such as this ancient monastery overlooking Athens.





One of the sites was the original Olympic stadium (which has some modern additions)













At the Greek Presidential Palace












The Hephaisteion in the ancient Agora market












Aboard the ferry to Santorini










Beauty -- foreground and background











View from a Santorini restaurant














How's this for a seaside lunch?


All the things we heard about the beauty of Santorini were, if anything, understatements. The island was once a volcano whose eruption essentially blew out the center of the moutain leaving a rim of island(s) around a caldera filled with water of the most incredible blue color. The weather, during our stay, was very hot -- as one would expect in the Aegean in late June. Santorini has clearly adjusted to being the holiday destination of people with good disposable incomes -- I think it may have more jewelry stores per capita than any other place we've been.

For more pictures of Athens and Santorini, visit: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/665873

We're Back

There's been a bit of a gap in our reporting, occasioned by a lengthy trip (17 days) to Greece and Russia, followed, after just a few days at home, by a 6 day trip to Virginia in the wake of the death of Kathi's father. Faithful readers will remember that her Mom died in February; it seems as though her Dad stayed alive as long as he was needed to help care for her, and when she was gone, he gave up fighting his own maladies.

The few days between the two trips found us in London during the bombings of 7/7. And we've now been back for just over a day from Virginia. In a little over a week we'll be leaving for a long-planned-for cruise on the Great Rivers of Europe.

And we're both trying to get some work in between these events. Busy times!