Ugh... So... Yeah... People need to learn when to not say things.
I think I am going to try to learn Italian.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
My Dad Is Just A Big Kid
Last weekend I went home and on Sunday Jack and I went over to my dad's to see him and the kids and take them all out to lunch for my Dad's Birthday which was last week. We stopped by and picked up a piece of chocolate cake for my dad and something for the twins from The Hot Chocolate Sparrow. {I got the most delicious coconut mocha latte.}
Now I thought my dad was not supposed to have chocolate - his bloodsugar levels were very high to the point of being borderline diabetic. But then Jack told me the story of what happened when my dad went to the hospital to get his blood taken. He had not eaten anything, as was asked of him, but he arrived much to early for his appointment. He got there at 8am and he was not supposed to be there until 1pm so the doctor told him to come back at 1pm but do not eat anything. Being an hour drive back home, my dad decided to stick around. He's walking around wasting time when what does he do? Spots a chocolate store and eats about 2 pounds of chocolate and then goes to get his blood drawn. Of course his blood sugar levels were high! The only thing he had eaten in the past 20 hours was 2 pounds of chocolate about 2 hours ago! So apparently it is okay for him to have chocolate now.Anyway, my dad starts in on his piece of cake before we even get in the house. (He grabbed it from my brother as soon as he learned it was for him.) I told him he should wait on eating the cake until after lunch - since we were taking him out. Nope - he didn't want to do that. He ate the whole piece. (Now if you saw this piece of cake, and if you knew my dad at all, you'd say this piece of cake was made specifically for him.) Layers of dark chocolate this and dark chocolate that with dark chocolate goo and dark chocolate chunks. He finished the piece off and declared it was delicious. We then asked him where he wanted to go for lunch. I presumed he would want to go to Sir Crickets or The Lobster Pound and get lobster but instead he opts for the sandwich shop down the street - okay by us. We get there and my dad decides he is too full for a sandwich and all he gets is soup. Silly man.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
I wish I were back in Athens...
I am back from Greece and back to reality of life. It was fantastic to get away. I really needed it. I do not especially like being back in reality and I still wish I were in Athens.
It's really neat how quickly you can sometimes make connections with new people. I was with my friend R on this trip and we quickly became close friends with B, P, M, and D who were in the same tour group. The 6 of us hit it off fantastically and were constantly together for the entire trip. Our personalities went really well together and it was sad to say goodbye to these close friends we had created and bonded with over the course of a week. We will see each other again of course but I had gotten used to eating meals with them, seeing them everyday, listening to B tell stories, and just joke around and have a fun time. I wasn't expecting to hit it off so well so quickly with people. Generally, I am not a people person. It was a good experience going on a cruise, but I must say, the best thing about the cruise was getting off. I am not really a cruise person either. I would rather be out exploring on my own.
I will now summarize my two favorite stops on the trip: Rhodes and Santorini. Unfortunetely I did not keep a journal of the trip, nor really have paper with me. But then again there was not a lot of extra time to sit and write.
Rhodes
Rhodes was just gorgeous. It was our first really sunny day of the trip which I'm sure influenced my feelings a little bit. We explored the Medieval Old Town. The Old Town of Rhodes is a bustling neighborhood of some 6,000 people, who live and work in the same buildings in which the Knights of St. John lived six centuries ago; as a living monument to the past it must be nearly unique in Europe, if not the world. The Old Town continues today to be divided into the two parts which made it up in the time of the Knights: the northern part, which was the internal fortress of the Knights, known as the Castello, and which contained the official buildings; and the larger southern part, called the Chora, where the Greeks, the Europeans who were not members of the Order and the Jews lived. These two parts of the town were separated by a wall running approximately parallel to the line of Sokratous street, the old Bazaar. During the years of Turkish occupation, the Greeks were expelled from the Old Town, which was the exclusive province of Turks and Jews. Greeks were allowed to enter only during daytime and those who were caught in the old town after dark were liable to be beheaded.
After visiting the Old Town, we leisurly walked around Rhodes checking out everything and as B would say, "terrorizing the Isle." We quickly veered away from the typical tourist spots and just wandered through the streets and happened upon a little cafe serving drinks. The waiter of this restaurant was the most gorgeous man I have ever laid my eyes on. And when he asked me, "what may I bring you?" My heart stopped and I swore my whole body flushed. I could not speak; I was frozen in place looking at this man. This has never happened to me before. I stood there frozen looking at him for about 20 seconds. And all I could think was, 'as long as you stand there, your eyes peircing mine, I want for nothing.' Quickly realizing he was waiting for me to say something I managed to get out, 'I'll have a glass of the house red wine please.' All the while trying to burn his eyes and the look of his face into my memory. He is my most vivid memory of Rhodes.
Santorini
Santorini was just magic. We didn't have enough time here. As we approached the island we could see the city on top of the cliffs and the sunlight hit it a way which made it glow. We took tenderboats to shore and there were three ways to get to the top.
1. Skytram thing
2. Donkey
3. On foot
Number three does sound the most appealing and had the shortest line; until you find out you will be walking up the donkey trail; then it is less appealing. Riding up on a donkey would be a neat adventure if I still did not have to wear the pants I was wearing for about 3 more days (just kidding, sort of).
We took the skytram to the top and quickly set out to find some local wine. We had heard that this island has fantastic local wine. Armed with three bottles each, we then looked out over the Aegean and watched the sun set. We terrorized the island for a bit, did a bit of shopping, and then found a neat little corner restaurant serving drinks which looked out over the sea, the lower portion of the island, and our boat. We had some Mythos (Greek beer) and red wine and enjoyed the surroundings and company. My photographs just don't do it justice. We had to leave the same evening and return to the cruise ship. This was our last cruise stop and we arrived back in Athens the next morning.
It was a fabulous trip and I would recommend anyone going. I really want to go back. But next time I will spend more time on each island.
It's really neat how quickly you can sometimes make connections with new people. I was with my friend R on this trip and we quickly became close friends with B, P, M, and D who were in the same tour group. The 6 of us hit it off fantastically and were constantly together for the entire trip. Our personalities went really well together and it was sad to say goodbye to these close friends we had created and bonded with over the course of a week. We will see each other again of course but I had gotten used to eating meals with them, seeing them everyday, listening to B tell stories, and just joke around and have a fun time. I wasn't expecting to hit it off so well so quickly with people. Generally, I am not a people person. It was a good experience going on a cruise, but I must say, the best thing about the cruise was getting off. I am not really a cruise person either. I would rather be out exploring on my own.
I will now summarize my two favorite stops on the trip: Rhodes and Santorini. Unfortunetely I did not keep a journal of the trip, nor really have paper with me. But then again there was not a lot of extra time to sit and write.
Rhodes
Rhodes was just gorgeous. It was our first really sunny day of the trip which I'm sure influenced my feelings a little bit. We explored the Medieval Old Town. The Old Town of Rhodes is a bustling neighborhood of some 6,000 people, who live and work in the same buildings in which the Knights of St. John lived six centuries ago; as a living monument to the past it must be nearly unique in Europe, if not the world. The Old Town continues today to be divided into the two parts which made it up in the time of the Knights: the northern part, which was the internal fortress of the Knights, known as the Castello, and which contained the official buildings; and the larger southern part, called the Chora, where the Greeks, the Europeans who were not members of the Order and the Jews lived. These two parts of the town were separated by a wall running approximately parallel to the line of Sokratous street, the old Bazaar. During the years of Turkish occupation, the Greeks were expelled from the Old Town, which was the exclusive province of Turks and Jews. Greeks were allowed to enter only during daytime and those who were caught in the old town after dark were liable to be beheaded.
After visiting the Old Town, we leisurly walked around Rhodes checking out everything and as B would say, "terrorizing the Isle." We quickly veered away from the typical tourist spots and just wandered through the streets and happened upon a little cafe serving drinks. The waiter of this restaurant was the most gorgeous man I have ever laid my eyes on. And when he asked me, "what may I bring you?" My heart stopped and I swore my whole body flushed. I could not speak; I was frozen in place looking at this man. This has never happened to me before. I stood there frozen looking at him for about 20 seconds. And all I could think was, 'as long as you stand there, your eyes peircing mine, I want for nothing.' Quickly realizing he was waiting for me to say something I managed to get out, 'I'll have a glass of the house red wine please.' All the while trying to burn his eyes and the look of his face into my memory. He is my most vivid memory of Rhodes.
Santorini
Santorini was just magic. We didn't have enough time here. As we approached the island we could see the city on top of the cliffs and the sunlight hit it a way which made it glow. We took tenderboats to shore and there were three ways to get to the top.
1. Skytram thing
2. Donkey
3. On foot
Number three does sound the most appealing and had the shortest line; until you find out you will be walking up the donkey trail; then it is less appealing. Riding up on a donkey would be a neat adventure if I still did not have to wear the pants I was wearing for about 3 more days (just kidding, sort of).
We took the skytram to the top and quickly set out to find some local wine. We had heard that this island has fantastic local wine. Armed with three bottles each, we then looked out over the Aegean and watched the sun set. We terrorized the island for a bit, did a bit of shopping, and then found a neat little corner restaurant serving drinks which looked out over the sea, the lower portion of the island, and our boat. We had some Mythos (Greek beer) and red wine and enjoyed the surroundings and company. My photographs just don't do it justice. We had to leave the same evening and return to the cruise ship. This was our last cruise stop and we arrived back in Athens the next morning.
It was a fabulous trip and I would recommend anyone going. I really want to go back. But next time I will spend more time on each island.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Thursday, March 09, 2006
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