Music, dancing, and rakomelo

It's tiring getting the most out of a vacation

The surroundings are beautiful, the food is remarkable (I'll remark on it later), and quite frankly, I'm exhausted. We have enjoyed so much in such a short time, which is very nice, and that is also why I have decided to let the family go to the beach by themselves today. I am happy to sit around and read and write and nap and not be fully engaged. I went to the market and got nice cheese and bread and olive oil and a tomato, and now I am equipped for anytime snacking without spending so much money. I also got myself a shaker and some freeze dried coffee with which to make my own frappes and I could spend the whole day by myself if I wanted. Besides, the café latte I ordered yesterday morning cost me 4 euro -- at that rate I would be worm food in Zürich before I even made it to Germany.

Yesterday evening was very nice, though. My dad, the TGVSM, my insanely active 5 year old brother, Jacob, and our dear friends, Valerie and Daniel from France, all had a drink at the "All Day Bar" and watched the sunset. We had a great time explaining to our French friends the concept of a knock-knock joke, and we all rediscovered the pleasure of coming up with new ones. Daniel spun out many clever ones throughout the evening, including who's there being the opening to "Beethoven's 5th" and bum-bum-bum-bum-WHO being, "I can't hear you!" 

A lot of my time however, true to my main purpose during the family-Greek-vacation part of my journey, is spent with Jacob doing what I can to keep him safely engaged (and to keep the adults from getting whacked in the face, or having rakomelo spilled in their laps). If only Jacob could reveal his secret recipe, which turns more-so-yummy-pasta-than-you-should-be-able-to-fit-in-such-a-small-boy into enough-energy-to-power-a-ferry-from-here-to-Athens-for-the-rest-of-time, we'd all be as blissfully insane as he is.

On the Boat to Folegandros

Last Evening in Piraeus

I'm suddenly very far away...

Γειά σου! 

After a kafluffle with Northwest Air -- finding out that my flight was cancelled or moved or disappeared somehow, then getting put on a different flight with a different airline, and having to race to the airport in Philly, and then being seated next to an enormous woman who couldn't put the armrest down, and being surrounded by her 30 friends and family who seemed to be the only other people on the plane, and listening to them all cackling and hollering for the entire 10 hour flight -- I have finally arrived in Greece.

After landing in Athens, I fell in and out of sleep on an hour and a half bus, during which I thought the bus driver was going to kill us with his driving, and now I'm at the hotel in Piraeus. It's very luxurious having my own room, and I'm very thankful that the first leg of my trip is funded by the Dad and the TGVSM. I got myself a local sim card for my cell phone, and wandered the streets for a while. 

I go into shops and people think I'm greek, so I try to do as much non verbal communicating as I can, but as soon as I use one or two greek words (like "hello," or "thank you" ) I am sprayed with ωηαςσλιφνβ;λφςκ,ξηςλφοακ... and I have to throw up my hands in surrender and reveal my true identity. Thankfully, people have been exceptionally sweet to me and they are happy to try speaking in English.

It's hotter than a nun's asshole (but not that tight), and after one very strong frappé, I started to feel a bit out of it, and I came back to the hotel and took a nap. I still feel pretty groggy, but I must go out and explore and try to stay awake so that I can sleep tonight. Maybe I'll ask one of the girls at the desk what there is to do, or maybe I'll just wander.

I thought Denver loved me

It's the beginning of a long journey and the unknown looms constantly. Having at least two months ahead of me with plenty of details left intentionally undefined, I have found myself shifting from excited and hopeful to scared and possibly regretful. The beginning of the journey is set, however, and I am following my trusty itinerary (sent to me by my travel-goddess-virgo-step-mother, from here on referred to as the TGVSM) which gets me to my first real destination: Lansdale, PA — the home of my dear friends, Andrew and Melissa. The unexpected, of course, does not always reside within my "intentionally undefined" boundaries, and will eventually decide to "do it's thing." It's like when the TGVSM would say, "So, the plan is to play it by ear, that's the plan..." That's very clever of her to expect the unexpected. Remember that the 'V' stands for Virgo, and that particular breed have a deeply rooted sense of organization. For me, a plan is just another something to remember, and I just hope that I can learn enough about organization, from the virgos in my life, in order to keep from missing too many appointments. Today, however, despite my laminated itinerary, the plan has suddenly changed. If only I had decided to "play it by ear" I could have expected this.

I'm in the Denver airport, where I have been for a couple of hours now. When I landed I noticed that my flight to Philly was delayed by almost 2 hours. That would put me there after the trains stopped running and my dear hosts would have to drive 40 minutes each way in the middle of the night to pick me up.  Luckily, my flight to Paris doesn't leave for 3 days, so I have some flexibility. I decided to start playing it by ear and that's when the magic started to happen. I asked, and it turns out that the flight is very full. I told the airline attendant that I would be willing to be bumped, and he told me that there wouldn't be another one until the morning. Fine! Will I have accommodations? Yes! They'll pay me $100 plus the price of the ticket and put me up in a hotel. You see? It all...

*  *  *  *

I got cut short there because my name was being called on the loudspeaker. I thought that maybe they had found someone who wanted my seat and that they were waiting for me. Great! I packed up my computer and dashed to the gate, but as I looked at my clock I realized that it was already 6:45, and the flight was leaving at 7. I was having so much fun hanging out in the Denver airport that I forgot to go check back at the gate. There was no one waiting to get on the plane; they were waiting for me so they could take off.

I was the last on the plane and it was a completely full flight, and with Southwest it's first-come-first-serve seating. I looked around for the empty seat, and finally I saw it ... between two very enormous men. One of them sighed and said, "It's going to be a tight squeeze!" And it was. Good thing the flight was only 3 hours, but I didn't have time to call before we took off and it made for a very late night for Andrew and Melissa and me.

It's almost 3am and I'm finally here at their place. Andrew is playing guitar and Melissa is trying to sleep. I didn't know it would be such a crazy day, especially after I thought I had it made, but I can't forget that the unknown will always be there. I am still that same appointment missing space cadet that I was before. The 'TG' stands for "travel goddess," and I still bow to her feet. Forgive me, TGVSM. I lucked out this time, but I will have to tighten up ship if I am going to make it through Europe this summer.