Intro

As promised, the journal I kept during my trip. I needed a break from labeling pictures (even after clearing out repeats and pictures of signs [so I'd know what the picture was for labeling later] I'll be at about 1200 total) and decided to go ahead and get started on this. It will be presented in nearly its original form: uncensored, almost unedited (I'm sure I managed to misspell a few things), and with only one sentence and a small paragraph left out for personal reasons. This post will always stay up top; the others will be adjusted to the dates/times recorded in the original journal. My normal format is date - time - location, but since date and time are already covered the title will just show as the location I wrote it. In the event of multiple "posts" during one day, they'll be separated by the time (and location, if that changed) I wrote the next part, i.e.:

PART 1 PART 1

14:30 or 14:30 - City, Country

PART 2 PART 2

Enjoy! Or don't, whichever you prefer.

London, England

At the gate now, waiting to board the plane home. I got stuck taking the express train out to Heathrow this morning because the section of the tube next to my hostel ended up being closed for renovations. Cost four times as much, but it also got me there four times as fast, so I had time for an English breakfast once I got here.

11:16

Also, celebrity sighting! Probably not one that most people would be excited by, but I thought it was pretty dang cool. The guy who plays Dr. Rush [ed: he was also Hamish Macbeth, back in the day] on SG-U (Stargate Universe) is actually one the same flight. I didn't have time for a picture, but I did get to shake his hand & say hi. Cheesy as it sounds, that made my day a bit brighter.

14:27

And on to the final leg of the journey. A bitty little twin prop "Dash 8"--at least after the 777 from London--but the flight is only about an hour. And then a day or so of hanging out with Dave, and then home! I'll be glad to be there, but at the same time it means back to reality... time to start the job hunt & get money flowing in the right direction.

Rhodes, Greece

First part of the mission accomplished: I made it to the airport in one piece. I think I could have slept in a bit, though... I forgot to take into account how awesome I am at walking now (so I made really good time to the taxi stand) and the lack of traffic on the road (so the taxi made really good time to the airport). Oh well, better safe than sorry.

05:33

Checked & through security, woohoo! I love how they've got gates assigned for flights that leave five and a half hours from now, but still not for mine that leaves in an hour and a half. Or maybe they do... time to go check another screen. Nope, still nothing. I'm going to have to hunt for a drinking fountain soon too. I downed my water bottle before leaving my room, since you can't bring the liquid through security, and I'm starting to get thirsty again. And even if any of the few shops here were open yet, I doubt I could afford a bottled water. I treated myself to some ice cream last night to make up for my crappy "ham & cheese pie" dinner (my favorite gyro shop was closed by the time I went out for my night walk, to make sure I could find my way to the taxi stand in the dark), so I'm down to €1.53 now. I could pull more, but again, I'm going to be poor enough when I get home as it is... I don't want to be totally broke.

5:55

Okay, what the fuck? Still no gate for me, but there is one a flight going to Prague... at 22:50. Really, Rhodes Airport? You guys are right up there with the Venetians. And no drinking fountains in sight either, which seems odd given how friendly the Greeks are otherwise.

07:28 - Somewhere over the Aegean

Hooray for free food! I think I actually preferred the sammich on my way out, but the "croissant with cocoa filling" wasn't too bad. Don't think it'll hold me over 'til my flight to London though, so I'll probably have to whip out the card at some point. Frown. I'm actually wishing I hadn't booked my flights in revers order... since I got stuck leaving this early, I may have been able to catch a flight home today, and avoided having to get a hostel. I suppose I could have just hung out at Heathrow, but with 9 hours to wait in Athens & 15 to wait 'til my flight out of London, that would have put me at a full day worth of waiting in airports... more time than I'll be spending in the air on the entire journey home. Not exactly my idea of a good time. (Insert Garbage song [ed: Not My Idea] here).

09:24 - Athens, Greece

Holy crap, I can actually afford a bottled water here... maybe even 2 of them. Win! I will still need lunch, though; I could probably make it through the day without it, but given how little I've been eating over the last week or so, I probably should grab something. Mickey D's for the win!

Note to other travelers: if you need a baggage cart, you're either horribly lazy or you're carrying too much shit. Go home, repack, and try again.

Speaking of other travelers, in my experience Americans are not the worst: that title goes to the Germans. The family groups are alright (except for the little kids, but they're the same everywhere), but the old people are rude & inattentive to what's going on around them, and the younger ones are generally loud & obnoxious. American old people probably take second place though: they tend to hunt in packs, and with few exceptions they are also loud & obnoxious, and complain a lot as well. Middle-aged Americans, though--and I'm going to lump myself in with them, since I like to think I'm fairly mature (when it comes to travel/tourism, at least)--are among the best. As a general rule, I would say that old people, fat people, and those that suck at navigating crowds, shouldn't be tourists... they're just slowing things down for the rest of us.

10:03

Weird... when I was in Dublin, I read a short story by Jules Verne that took place on the day that I was reading it, albeit 1000 years in the future or so. I just started reading Frankenstein, and the introduction is dated October 15, and placed in London. I think the only way this could have been stranger were if I waited to start reading it until I got to London tonight. I mean really, what are the odds?

13:31

This has been kind of a day of ups & downs. I was able to afford a water, but then found a drinking fountain at the other end of the airport. I was able to check my bag four hours before my flight, but that just reminded me that I still had four hours before my flight. Need lunch & McDonald's (they give you a miniature fork to use for your fries, I guess so you don't get your fingers greasy) didn't take cards, so I had to pull more cash that will be useless to me as soon as my flight leaves. That may lead to an up though, if I can find a reasonably priced drink. And I may be able to exchange a €10 for some GBP when I land... we can hope.

I never did find the passport stamper guy either, which is kind of a bummer. I've been through seven different countries and only have stamps for three of them. Well, 4/8 if you count Iceland, but I was really just passing through there.

Okay... time to look for a drink, then hope a spot opens up at the charging station so I can bring my nook back up to full.

13:58

Bah, fuck that. Alcohol is expensive here. Even "duty free" and 20% off, a bottle of Jameson is €20 (about $27)... I can get that exact same bottle (and in one case some glasses along with it) for about $25 back home [ed: unless prices changed since the last time I bought one, that's wrong... it's more like $30], and that's not on sale & with all taxes included. I think I can use my card to get my tickets for the tube in London; if so I'll just exchange my €15 in cash I've got now for good old American dollars, and use those to get me through the couple days I'll be crashing with Dave when I get back to Seattle.

15:21

And fuck you too, Athens International Airport security. I had just repacked everything in my backpack less than 24 hours ago to make sure it all fit properly & wouldn't get crushed, and you decided you needed to unpack it. Based on their reactions, I think it was the Guinness bottle opener that freaked them out? Which is really odd, because it hadn't caused a problem at the airports in Dublin, Venice, Rhodes, or here my first time through. It's not like I don't have time to repack it (still over an hour before the flight is even supposed to start boarding), but it's the principle of the thing. I've already been stuck in your miserable airport for over seven hours today, and now this? Bastards.

Oh, but I do have a Greek stamp on my passport now. Sort of. You can't really make any of it out... just GR in one corner, an airplane in another, and the date in the middle. There's some writing at the bottom, but I can't make out what it says. I actually had to go through passport control on the way to my gate (maybe based on my destination?), which seemed odd, for for some reason he stuck it back in the "Amendments/Endorsements" section. Oh well. Time to repack.

Oh, also! She [ed: the lady at security] unwrapped pretty much all of my shot glasses, and even unboxed those that had a window in them to show you what's inside, but never bothered to open my camera case... it's a fairly decent size, so there could have been anything in there. Again... what the fuck, Athens? If I ever end up here again, I won't be leaving by plane. Oh yeah, and she flipped through my journal too--didn't read, just scanned--in case there was something hiding inside. EPIC FAIL!

22:07 - London, England

Man, the tubes are slow.... Between that & getting slightly lost (no "You are here" mark on the maps by tube exits, so it's hard to tell what exit you're using) I was half an hour later than expected at the hostel, but was able to get checked in with no problems. I was a bit worried when I first got here--atmosphere seemed a bit party-like--but after getting to the room, I think this will be one of the nicer hostels I've stayed at. The beds are sturdy, and each one has its own readying lamp & outlet (and my UK adapter works this time, hooray!); my only real complaint so far is that the hole in the storage locker is too small for my lock I really didn't feel like buying one from the hostel on the last night of my trip, so I'll just shove the backpack under my bed & hope for the best.

I'm not sure whether it was the time of day or the fact that I'm only here overnight, but getting through immigration at Heathrow was much easier this time. Guy asked my how long I was staying, where I was flying to next, then said okay and waved me through. That was a much more pleasant experience than I'd anticipated... good way to end an evening.

For some reason, I decided to exchange my euros for GBP instead of dollars... maybe I'll get a good breakfast at the airport tomorrow? There's an express train there from Paddington Station (couple blocks from the hostel), and if that's reasonably priced I may take that; the tube ride is £4.50, since you have to go through all the zones.

I just noticed that I've written more in here since the start of this trip than in the year and a half leading up to it. I guess I need to travel to awesome places more, or at least do something interesting every now & then.

Alrighty... waiting for the bathroom to open up (I'm sharing the room with a Dutch family so far; looks like there's on other already here, but haven't seen them), then a bit of reading & time for bed.

Rhodes, Greece

Humidity really isn't my friend. I have to carry around my small pack with some water in it to keep hydrated, and that makes my back sweaty & keeps it from drying... it's actually still damp, over an hour after I got back from my morning wandering. I'm ready to be back to the dry heat in eastern Washington. Heck, even a dry cold would be nice now. Oh well, at least my room here has good AC.

Since I didn't really have much planned today I didn't get up & going 'til about 10:30. I decided to go out to the temple/stadium/theater complex; not really worth it unless you've got plenty of extra time like I did. The stadium is basically a much smaller but much better preserved version of the Circus Maximus, the theater is fairly small & built into the hill at one end of it, and the foundations & few remaining columns of the Temple of Apollo sat up on the hill above them. Plus, I managed to get lost for awhile on my way back. Even the newer section of Rhodes is kind of a maze: not all of the streets are marked, and not all of the streets that are marked show up on my map. At one point the street sign made me think I was almost as far north as you can get on the island, but based on the amount of time it took me to get back to where I wanted to be, there's no way that was possible.

Right now I'm waiting for either the rain to die down or an hour or so to pass; whichever comes first, I'm setting out to try & find the best way to the taxi station up on the north end of Old Town, then walking that route a few times (probably once after dark as well) in the hopes of remembering it tomorrow. The good news is, the taxis run 24 hours a day; the bad news is, I have to try catching one no later than 05:30 tomorrow... ouch. That is going to be a very long day.

Rhodes, Greece

Dear Bob Barker: Please come to Greece and spay/neuter about 95% of the cat population. They're running around all over the place here... there was even a sort of "Feed the Cats" shrine out by the Fortress of St. Nicholas.

On a happier note, I am definitely sitting in the interior courtyard of the Palace of the Grandmaster of the Knights of St. John. It was €6 to get in--a bit steep considering how much of it they had closed off--but again, I couldn't not do it. The architecture is cool, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the experience. They've got a lot of the interior laid out like a museum, and most of the stuff was incredibly similar to what I just saw at the Byzantine Museum in Athens. There were mosaics all over the place, but most of them weren't even originally from Rhodes. And they didn't have any of the rooms labeled, so I had to idea what I was looking at most of the time. Way to go, guys.

I think now it's time for a quick bio break, then finish the dry moat & find some lunch. Breakfast today was almonds... I think I've got enough left for one more day of that, and then the bag I got at Top Foods before I left will finally be gone.

19:02

So humid... it tried raining earlier this evening, while I was out dropping my postcards off, but mostly the moisture just made the air feel squishy.

I'm really thinking that I should have planned one less night on Rhodes too. I love that I was able to make it here, but I'm quite literally out of sites that I want to see. Well, except for the wall walk, but I'd have to be here another three days for that, with even more nothing to fill up my time.

I would really like to come back and explore Greece in more detail sometime though. The people have mostly been really friendly, and the history is amazing. I would really like (I just noticed I'm using "really" a lot) to see Sparta, Corinth, Delphi, Thermopylae, and more of the islands. Maybe make it part of an eastern Mediterranean tour? I think my next big trip, whenever that happens, will be to a different continent. Australia & New Zealand would be nice, or maybe Japan/Kora/China, or possibly even parts of Africa. Of course, if I ever get on the ball & get myself into grad school, I might be able to get them to pay for it. That might be more business than pleasure, but I'm sure I could find myself a bit of free time to go exploring.

Random: I'm amazed at how much American music gets played in Europe. I've heard country music I didn't recognize (Oban), Taylor Swift (Venice) and Lady Antebellum (Athens), and Paramore was on the Italian version of MTV as well. I also heard Greenday & Bob Dylan in Rome, and ACDC somewhere; I realize they're actually Australian, but still... not European.

Just finished my beer... time to pay up & figure out how to get online here, to make sure I've got all my flights recorded & know where I'm going. Then probably back to the room to read. I finished an entire book (Seven Ancient Wonders; good story, decent writing) yesterday, and there's a good chance I'll do the same today (Sunset, a WWII fiction... pretty good so far). Hopefully I'll able to keep myself entertained tomorrow, because the last book sitting in the room looks like some sort of murder-mystery... not my favorite.

Athens, Greece

Holy crap. I just spent almost as much on a Powerade at the airport as I did on food all day yesterday. It would have been more but I did end up going back for a second gyro last night... for the price, it was just too dang good to pass up.

I was the only one in my 6-bed room last night, which was nice but kind of weird. I've got a private room for my 3 nights out on Rhodes too, so it'll be weird having to share again when I get back to London. Hopefully I can get my hostel/flight info printed out before then too, so I can prove to the fine folk in customs at Heathrow that I am indeed only spending one night in their country before heading home. That's going to be a pain in the ass too, after all the hassle-free customs experiences I've had since my first time through there. And of course, I think I still have to fill out the immigration card to get back into the US... I'm not immigrating, I live here! Oh well. Got about an hour left before my flight takes off (assuming these guys are more efficient than the Venetians were), so I guess it's time to get in some reading.

12:55 - Somewhere over the Aegean

They were indeed more efficient. Boarding began more or less on time, and the flight took off within a few minutes of when it was supposed to.

Surprising news, to me at least: Olympic Air actually just one the "Airline of the Year, 2010-2011 award from the ERAA (European Regional Airline Association). The service seems fine, but I'm still pissed that they wouldn't let me book my flight back from Rhodes. They were advertising one that lined up much better with my other flights on the way home, as well as being cheaper than the one I ended up with... and they wouldn't let me book it. Apparently they didn't like my card? I tried using different browsers on different computers... no luck. I contacted Capital One, and they said they didn't even show my card being declined. Tried my debit card... no luck. Sent my credit card info home to have mom & dad try it from there... no luck. Had mom & dad try with their credit cards... no luck. So eventually I ended up paying about $40 more for a flight w/ Aegean Air that leaves at 07:00, which means I'll be spending about nine hours at the airport in Athens before my flight to London leaves. And since I booked the flights separately instead of as part of a chain (cheaper that way), I'll actually have to pick up my checked bag & hang out with that until I can check it for the other flight. FAIL.

18:22 - Rhodes, Greece

So, I've got €21.73 to feed me and keep me online until I get home. It should be more, but the bus wasn't going to get me anywhere close to where I needed to be, so I had to take a taxi... €22 each way. None of my other transit expenses have been anywhere near to that; the next closest was Paris at about €8.50, and that included a bus, a commuter train & the metro. Even with the exchange rate that was cheaper than the taxis I took to & from JFK & my hotel in New York (those were over $50 each), but still... yikes. Luckily I found a place that sell pretty cheap gyros (€2.50), and I think I can live on two of those a day. Thank goodness I brought some vitamins along to help fill in the gaps in my diet. And actually, both of the Greek airlines I've been on have served mini-meals, even though they've been short flights: chicken & rice w/ tomato sauce, a roll & some weird dessert thing from Venice to Athens (2 hours) and a sandwich from Athens to Rhodes (<1>

I got in in the early afternoon today, but still took it pretty easy. It was about 25°C (low 80s [ed: more like high 70s, actually]), and even after all the nice weather I had through Italy & Athens that was pretty toasty. I wandered through the west side of the city, then outside the old city walls (the tops of which are unfortunately only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and I was too late for today) through part of the old dry moat. All of the city walls I've seen so far have been intact, as is the retaining wall for the glacis. I covered pretty much the northwest section of the walls, then out to the fortress/lighthouse of St. Nicholas; that's supposedly where the Colossus once stood, so I may have to go back for some pictures.

Main goal for tomorrow: the Palace of the Grand Masters. That will eat even more into my budget, but I can't not go there. After that I'll probably finish up the dry moat. It kind of makes me wish I had refreshed myself on the 1522 siege before I came. Thursday I may wander out of the Old City to an "Archaeological Park" and an "Ancient stadium/odeon/Temple of Aplollonus" that are marked on my map, then get on the net, figure oput how to get a taxi back to the airport at the buttcrack of dawn on Friday, and go to bed early.

Athens, Greece

Today ended up being a semi-lazy day, but I'm going to call it a good one. Stuffed myself on the free hostel breakfast (bread & jam w/ tea), then set out to conquer Lycabettus Hill. It's only about 900 feet tall, but that puts it about 400 feet higher than the Acropolis, and it was mostly uphill from my hostel just to get there too. And the slope is pretty steep--I wimped out & stopped at benches a couple times on the way up--but the view was worth it. You could see Athens spread out in every direction, and down across the Acropolis out to the Aegean Sea... very impressive. I spent awhile up there reading (Dante's "Inferno") to try and let some of my sweat evaporate, then hiked back down a slightly different route & back to the hostel. Lunch was part of a leftover giant pretzel thing from yesterday, and then spent awhile on the hostel computers: catching up on blogs, making sure my remaining money was where it needed to be, and talking to Brittany on Facebook.

After that I was bored, so I went out wandering again. I ended up going down through part of the flea market (where you can buy just about anything), up between th Acropolis & Agora, and then on my way back towards the hostel to find something to eat I ran into the Hansens (Chris farms outside of Mansfield, and Shirley works at the bank I used to). What are the odds of that happening? So we sat down for a beer, talked for an hour or so, then went our separate ways. I ended up getting a beef gyro (good stuff, once I picked off the tomatoes) at the same place. Total cost for food today: €1.80. I may go back for another one a bit later though, no telling when I'll run into good cheap food like that again.

Tomorrow, it's off to Rhodes! I'm really looking forward to that, although I think I may have booked a day too long there as well... oh well, nothing I can do about that now. Mostly I'm dreading getting off the island; my flight leaves at 07:00, which means I should get there no later than 06:00, which means I'll probably have to set up a taxi ahead of time. Frown.

Right now I'm just burning time until my nook recharges, so I'll probably take a short nap. After that it'll be time for another gyro, check to see if any of the computers is open, and then... something? I'll figure it out when I get there.