http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/MBrantley/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from MBrantley en-us Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:21:42 +0000 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:21:42 +0000 Well I made my way back to Athens and then onto a flight to Rome. Athens to Rome is such a nice short flight it took about an hour and a half but there was still time for drama. Just shortly after we reached our cruising altitude some woman started yelling. She was speaking Italian so I have no idea what she was yelling about but a couple of the flight attendants went running. The 3 of the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-322979.html Today I had to bid farewell to Elounda and all of Crete for that matter. It seems that every time that I have to pack it is getting harder and harder. I donrsquot feel like Irsquom acquiring much more stuff but my bag is getting harder to close I hope Irsquom able to get it closed after Italy. I pretty much spent the day trying to find a few last little things to shove into my luggage an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-322609.html I cannot believe that I have been on vacation this long. Irsquom not sure if I can go back to the working class. I think it might be time to revisit the idea of a sugar daddy does anyone have leads.Well after a nice relaxing massage and a moisturizing facial Irsquove gotten a lot of sun I decided to wonder around a little bit. I headed north out of Elounda rather than the southern dir http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/blog-321872.html Well today was another low stress day in sunny Crete. I did some laundry Bill will be so proud and laid around at the pool.I spent the day in the sun chatting with a very lovely English gentleman. We talked about everything from American life to politics in the US and abroad. I immediately liked him when he told me that he was sad to hear that Hillary would not be President. Hersquos a ret http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/blog-321516.html Well after going to the same coffee bar for a week I decided to give it a shot in explaining to the waitress how I like my coffee. I stuck with a simple Americano but given the language difference it took a bit of time. In the end it is much better. It seems that at least here in Crete every place we went to around the island had the same drink that all iced drinks are whipped and not whippe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/blog-321328.html Well since Bill was gone I decided to take on an adventure that would eat up most my day. I was much more successful at that than I had planned.We never made it to the south side of the island so I decided to give it a shot. There are a couple of things that you should know here. First there is no direct way to the south side of the island. Second the main roads go from 4 lanes to 2 down http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/blog-320974.html Well today is that day that Billy Buddy left me. He must have been feeling a little bad or he will miss me but he got up and cooked us a real breakfast with eggs and fruit and everything. There was no Nuttella anywhere on the table. It was a GREAT breakfast.Well the morning started a bit slow since we took it easy had a nice breakfast and then Bill had to spend some time packing. Once we go http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/blog-320586.html Well we spent the day at a couple of different beaches since Crete has tons of beaches. The beaches really vary quite a bit. We went to one beach that was very rocky with some ruins under the water. We did a little snorkeling. Billy Buddy claims to have seen some brightly colored fish while all I saw was very interesting but monochromatic fish. Who knows what he saw colored glassThe secon http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/blog-320584.html After a much needed nightrsquos sleep we slowly woke up and had a light breakfast croissants with Nuttella who know such a thing existed. We went and got a car for the week. All they had right then was a ldquojeeprdquo which as it turns out is a Suzuki Vatara. Once I got over being in such a little car and afraid of certain death it wasnrsquot so bad. OK Irsquom still not used http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/blog-320579.html Well at about 6 in the morning we made it to Crete. The day did not start off the best. It seems there was some confusion to our arrival time and there was no one at the dock to pick us up. It turned out ok. We had to wait about an hour but in the end it was no big deal.Elounda Beach is about an hour away from the dock. It was a nice drive. I find it very interesting how people drive in Gree http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/blog-319374.html Well the day started a little earlier than we had planned. The sun sure is bright first thing in the morning in Greece. We checked out of our hotel and headed to downtown Athens and the Acropolis. There is so much to say about the ruins in Athens that Irsquom sure I wonrsquot come close to doing any of it justice but I have a couple of observations.First it is very bizarre being in these http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-319003.html Well there is not too much to say except that we made it everywhere safe and sound. We spent pretty much the full day traveling or at least waiting to. We caught an afternoon flight from London to Athens which seemed simple enough. Well I guess London wasnrsquot ready for us to leave. Because of bad weather we sat for 2 hours. Once we were airborne things went pretty well.Because our flight http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Athens/blog-319002.html Today was the last day of the soccer tournament. The girlrsquos team from Texas won their division and the menrsquos Stonewall Team from the UK took the menrsquos. We also discovered a little whole in the wall Indian restraint in Leyton that was pretty damn good. The games were good although the menrsquos Argentina team had a rough day and were definitely a bit off their game. I do hav http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-318049.html Since the tournament is over for Jet City I got to spend the day with Billy Buddy thatrsquos his new nickname and Irsquom sure he would prefer it if everyone started using it. Before I say anything about the day I think it is worth mentioning that Jet City Strikers made it to the first of the finals rounds before being eliminated. While they tied one game and lost the other four with the e http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-318048.html Bill is back at soccer today and I should go since this may be their last day but I didnrsquot quite make it there. Rather than soccer I spent the day at Parliament Westminster and Fat Pig. I had to go see it because it has Kris Marshall in it and he is just adorable. It was a fun show and there are definitely a lot of laugh out loud moments.In spite of having a couple of good games today http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-317391.html Hey I got a whole day with Bill WOOHOO. Once we finished breakfast and some life chores like laundry we did what we do best we went shopping. We trekked all over the city and found a few good bargains and some things that werenrsquot bargains but we had to have anyway. It was a fun filled day in deed. Bill has this sixth sense to find the gay clothing shops and other things. After a l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-317378.html Today I was a bit lazy but hell Irsquom on holiday so I think itrsquos acceptable. The morning start a bit slow I went to Starbucks and had a cup of coffee donrsquot harass me I like those little comforts of home. I headed down to the square and got us tickets for We Will Rock You and grabbed some lunch before heading to the soccer pitch. Not an exciting morning but I was not very o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-316584.html Today was the Notting Hill Festival. It was quite the event. I heard this evening that something like 600000 people attended. Irsquom not sure how to describe the event so enjoy the pictures and put on some Jamaican music.I will say that I was surprised to see people out with signs and campaigning for Obama. I realize American politics certainly impacts the rest of the world I just didnrs http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-316199.html TEDDY I apologize but I assume everyone knows who TEDDY is. TEDDY is my life these days and so I brought him on my vacation. TEDDY is my work for those of you that arenrsquot familiar you can read about it at TEDDYStudy.org if you like. This is our new bear and I am planning to show him off at a conference in a few weeks and decided to make it one of those things.Well today Bill and I had http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-316198.html We started our day right with our good English breakfast at which time Michael was reminded of how very much he does not like pork note others around the table looking on in amusement.Once everyone was done with breakfast it was time to hop on the Underground and go get signed in for the soccer tournament. That seems simple enough I mean after all thousands of Brits do it every day surely us br http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-315464.html