And I'm Off...

Just barely made it to the Blue Line before the rain started - a couple of drops hit me and I groaned while stepping up the pace for the last 10 yards. Whew! As I rode the El to O'Hare, I could see it really coming down. By the time we started to go underground at the airport, though, it stopped.

I was selected for additional random screening at security. Hmm. Apparently TSA wanted to hold my hands. As they were 1) still attached to my body and 2) free of any naughty residue,* I was free to go in a jiffy.

Now sitting in the Admirals Club. I'm mourning the death of my watch battery and wondering how to get a new one. Maybe I can get one in Heathrow... not seeing anything that might be helpful here at O'Hare.

So - 10 hours until I'm in Heathrow, 17 until I'm in Greece. I can't wait to get some tzatziki.

*My hands are attached to my body and free of naughty residue. TSA is not attached to my body; I cannot speak to their residue.

Unpack... Launder... Pack

I'm heading back to Greece at the end of the month, this time for a bit of island-hopping: Naxos, Mykonos and Santorini. I'm taking two weeks for this trip, which is freaking me out a little as I have never taken such a long vacation as an adult! And it's going to be rough being away from my cat for that long; now that she's a senior cat, I worry about her a lot.

It's also a challenge as I just got home at midnight from a 5-day business trip. Which means I have 5.5 days in the office before I leave, and just over a week to unpack from that trip, launder everything (including the sheets the cat puked on this morning, sigh) and repack. Hopefully I do a better job packing than I did for the past trip, for which I forgot several key items including half of a suit! But since the packing list for vacation reads: swimsuits, flip flops, dresses - it should be easier. I just have to resist packing all of my cute shoes!

Trick... Treat....

I got on the flight from Athens to JFK this morning (or, in US time, yesterday). There were a couple and a guy also waiting to get on; I heard them talking, and they had all tried to get on the flight the previous day. Fortunately, we all got on; I was super lucky and got a business seat which made the flight go by very pleasantly. Going back to economy transatlantic is going to be a bummer!

Immigration and customs at JFK was relatively quick and painless. It was only when I hit security for the domestic leg that things slowed down. There were only three lines for the whole terminal, and it took a good 25 minutes to get through. Which in the end was fine, as the flight I'm aiming for next has been delayed. So I'm sucking the life out of the Boingo connection I paid for by surfing the web! All in all, it's been more treat than trick so far. Fingers crossed!

Being Flexible, and Waiting

I'm at the Athens airport, waiting to see if I get on to the flight to JFK. Since I'm standby, my cousin has been checking seat availability for me and when we got back to Athens last night and checked email, it appeared that today is my best chance to get to the US until possibly Wednesday. As much as I'd like to spend 3 more days in Greece, I have a work commitment on Wednesday so felt it best to try to get home today. I'm kind of proud of myself for going with the flow as well as I have! and it's part of the adventure.

It was a great week in Greece. For such a short time, I feel like I did and saw a lot. And ate a LOT of cheese pies. :-) It was great hanging out with Charlotte, too; since I just saw her in July, it's not much longer between visits than it would have been if she were still in the U.S. I know I'll be back for another visit, but I think there will be a longer gap this time, which will be weird. I know it won't matter to our friendship though, and besides - we'll be gossiping and staying in touch through email and texting until then.

So... we'll see where I post from next!

Driving to Heaven

What a full day Friday was! The wind was really blowing, and the bay was very choppy. As we walked around the waterfront to the car, a wave crashed up onto the walk and drenched our shoes and pants! The whole walkway was wet, and now we knew why.

We hit the road around 11 am, and after some searching, found the German War Ce

metery just west of Hania. Over 4,400 soldiers from WWII are buried there.

There's an equally large cemetery in the other direction that is the last resting place for Australians, British and Greeks who gave their lives. The German cemetery bears a message of peace that one cannot help but take to heart, thinking of the terrible losses.

We drove on to a monastery, which we somehow passed by, and over a curvy, narrow road up a peninsula. When we reached the town at the end, we got out to stretch our legs and relax our muscles, which had been tensed up during the ride! We decided to take the road back that went down the middle of the peninsula, and it was less nerve-wracking.

The drive took us down the gorgeous we st coast of Crete. We could see beuatiful blue water, and, as we drove, a kri kri (native goat) in the road. Then a dog, tied to a donkey, tied to the side - we took this as a sign to stop in the small town for lunch. The first taverna we approached was closed, and a man sitting out front gestured to us; I wasn't sure what it meant. We walked to another tavernawhich also appeared closed. As we started back to the car, a little old man came hustling up - he owned the taverna and would open it. He asked if we spoke German, and although we said no, his German was better than his English - and our Greek! - so we ended up using German.

He offered fish or "cutlet" (pork), salad, bread and wine that he had made. Sounded good to us! So he made our meal, right then and there! It was funny to be the only ones in the taverna except for the owner and his wife, especially when we had our meal and they sat there watching us eat! It was so good though - everything was incredibly fresh. We were very lpeased with our lunch, and with a unique experience.

From then on, the roads got crazier. Twisty, turny, high on the mountainside, somtimes with a guardrail, sometimes not. The scenery, when I looked, was stunning; it also made my stomach flip to see how high we were. At one point, the road climbed and the rail was so low that it looked like we were driving into the clouds.

The road finally began to descend, and before long, we were at Elafonisi beach. Gorgeous. There is no other word. Some of the sand was pink, and there were volcanic rocks poking out of the deep blue water. The mountains rose behind us. We walked the beach, wading in the water, taking in the beauty.

Too soon, it was time to go back if we wanted light on the mountain drive. We chose to go up through the middle of the mountains, and it turned out to be a less stomach-turning route. The villages were a little bigger on this road, too.

Dinner in Hania was back to Tamam. It was too cool to sit outside, so we sat in the dining room that was once a Turkish bath. Originally we were giong to order all different food, but we ended up getting the tzatziki again, and a variety of croquettes. Everything was delicious once again.

After dinner we wandered the town looking for a place for a nightcap. In trying to find a place we saw early in our wandering, we stumbled across a bar - a proper bar, which is rare in Greece - and it had an amazing selection of beers! Charlotte ordered a Hoegaarden and I haad a Saint Landelin Blonde. A nice way to wind down a busy day.

Today, we're sticking to Hania, checking out the sites, a museum or two, and the shopping. Then back to Athens, where I'll be for.... I don't know how many days! The flights are pretty booked so it looks like I'll be there a little longer than planned. Stay tuned!

Rethymnon

The plans for yesterday were altered due to Charlotte not feeling well. I spent the morning walking around Hania, catching part of the parade for Oxi Day and checking out the location of the market and some little shops that we can go to on Saturday.

In the afternoon, we drove to Rethymnon, which is another charming little city. There is a large Venetian fortress (fortezza) above the town, which both is and provides marvelous views. We toured the fortress then walked around the old town, which is, like Hania, full of narrow lanes and beautiful Venetian architecture. We managed to locate all of the major sights: the mosque, the loggia, and the fountain (the latter quite by accident!).

Lunch had been at an unremarkable taverna in Rethymnon: mussels, greens, and tzatziki. It was okay, but fell far short of the food we'd had so far. So I hoped to make up for it at dinner and decided we'd go to Well of the Turk.

We spent a good 30 minutes - at least! - looking for the darned place. First in one area, then another. I'd looked it up on the internet, marked it on my map, and was getting ridiculously frustrated by our inability to find it. A guy offered to help us, so we asked if he knew it, and he told us to go in a completely different direction! But we did find it!!! And it was well worth the search - located in an historic building, cozy and charming, and fantastic food. We ordered "chicken cigars" which were chicken and spices wraped in phyllo; a trio of hummus, tzatziki and bhabaghanouj; and meatballs. Yum.

On the way home, we met two little kittens who were VERY friendly! They followed us for a block or so, worrying us that they might follow us all the way home. But they stopped and turned back. We also bumped into a couple dogs we know, which is quite funny that we are getting to recognize the animals of Hania.

Today, the plan is to drive to Elafonisi beach and see a few sights on the way. It's very windy and a bit chilly, so probably no swimming, but we look forward to seeing some new places.

Evacuated! (from a restaurant)

We got a late start yesterday on heading to Iraklion and Knossos. The weather was rainy off and on, and quite windy. It's not far in kilometers, but it took 2 hours to get to Iraklion; the National Road is not like an Interstate at home. We thought we'd eat in Iraklion and then go to Knossos, but after 45 minutes of futilely driving around, we gave up. Iraklion has no street signs in the Latin alphabet and we could not decipher enough names to get where we wanted to go. So, I literally jumped out of the car as we were stopped in traffic and ran to a bakery for cheese pies while Charlotte parked.

Knossos was HUGE. It was truly amazing to envision what it once was. It was sad, to me, that the original archeologist, Evans, had reconstructed parts. Oh well.

We drove back, and as the weather had gotten a little worse, it took a bit longer. We decided to go straight to Hania and walk around before dinner. There are a lot of nice little stores here, and we peeked in to them as we walked around the Old Town.

For dinner, we went to Semiramis, which I had scoped out the previous night. We sat under an outside tent in a cute courtyard, but it was raining so hard - thunderstorms,

actually - that the rain was coming in, more and more. All of the diners laughed it off, until we were all getting pretty damp and the restaurant led us, under umbrellas, to their indoor seating in a little cave-looking room. They brought our food, covered and on trays, and a refreshed carafe of wine. Everyone in the little cave was giggling about the experience; it was quite a bonding moment! The food there was delicious - so delicious I forgot to take any pictures! We had leek pie, cheese croquettes that were AMAZING, Cretan salad, and meatballs. And of course raki with a little sweets for dessert.

Afterwards, we found a cute jazz club and had one last glass of wine before heading to bed. If today is supposed to be as sunny as it is now, we'll head to a beach on the south coast.