Off to the eastern Mediterranean
And thus another adventure begins. I'm in the airport, waiting to depart. And, frankly, I just barely got here okay (although now I do have some time to kill). I overslept this morning, so it was non-stop packing once I got up. And then I also had to prep the rats so a family friend could care for them (made more complicated by the fact that one is taking liquid antibiotics). But in the end, the only wrinkle was taking a cab all the way to the airport--instead of the train station--and making the driver wait for ten minutes.

I also left the house a pretty big mess. The only reason my mom might not freak out is that she's away on business now, then will only be home for a week before going on her own vacation (with her sisters and mother on an Alaskan cruise). So she won't have to look at it for too long.

So now I feel relieved--hopefully that'll be the only hiccup during my trip (besides the Syrian border). I'm a combination of excited and nervous--not unlike the first day of school, but with a higher percentage of nervous. But I've got an exciting list of places to see; the itinerary was what kept me up last night. I'm hoping to hit about a dozen places, with stays ranging from a half-day (Delphi) to four days (Cairo). I've decided to bypass Istanbul, which seems crazy, but it was geographically inconvenient, and it would easily be its own future vacation.

So while I'm in Turkey, I'll be going a bit more remote--still to well-touristed locales, but generally accessible only by bus; i.e. slow transport. I figure they would be harder to make time for in the future, compared with flying in and out of Istanbul.

I'm starting with a day in Athens, then off to some islands, including Mykonos, where I'm hoping to catch some of the end-of-summer crowd. I'll have more time in Athens at the end of my trip, if I want it. But I've heard mixed things about the city, so I'm staying flexible.

Somehow, I managed to pack super light--light enough that my mom could carry my backpack. I suspect it was the decision to buy new shirts and forgo bringing undershirts. New shirts mean no sentimental value, so pit stains wouldn't be the end of the world. Hm, I guess I could have packed flip-flops and dress shoes. But I guess this means I have space for an over-priced neck pillow! I better get on that.

Labels: bar trip

- posted by roger @ 4:10 PM