The end!

So I talked to the Oracle at Delphi and she figures I'm doing a-okay. Either that or I am gonna get eaten by a hydra tomorrow! You never can really tell with these cryptic mediums, can ya?

I am on the Island of Santorini and it might actually be the most beautiful place I have ever set foot on. You can't really go wrong with a deep blue sky overy white washed houses on the cliff of a sea-filled caldera, can ya? Today I was the only one on the so-called Red Beach and it was amazing. I know I'm a geek and all, but it really felt like a Martian landscape with the sheer red volcanic cliffs and the red sand.

Greece is absolutely beautiful, but the Fates have decided that getting to see Troy is not in my near future, as the bleedin' ferry schedules are not gonna work for me. Alas, we are at the whim of the gods, aren't we?!

All that means is that I'll have to come back, which I am more than willing to do. Although from the sounds of it, I'll be coming back alone, as my 'Classical Tid-bits' have not been so well received by a few of my readers (who would not be on board with a relatively brief historical overview of every single thing we'd see!). ;)

This also means that I am coming home three days early (and likely a long time before your postcards will arrive), so start pulling that Guinness! If you're in the area, the Fire Party is on for Dec 23rd!

Love you all and see some of you soon!

Thanks for reading my drivel. I hope you enjoyed it a little!

Master Jendu Hothu

all Greek to me

My last day in Cairo went off without incident cuz I had finally mastered the "feck off" glare and I was able to enjoy the sun setting over the Sphinx in relative peace.

And now I have made it to Greece and I absolutely love it! Athens is a beautiful city, albeit bloody freezing (how will I ever survive Edmonton?) and bloody expensive (damn the Euro!).

Just 24 hours after watching the sun set behind the pyramids, I got to see it again behind the Acropolis (how bleedin' cool is life?!). The Acropolis was pretty cool but, thus far, the big difference I have found between here and Egypt is that you are not permitted inside most of the structures here in Greece and that really takes some of the magic away for me. Additionally, there is so much reconstruction going on that there is sometimes more rebar and girders than there is marble. Having said all that, however, the Parthenon and especially the Erechtheion friggin' rocked. The Erechtheion is the sanctuary of Athena and Poseidon and (as I'm sure everyone remembers from their intro Classics course, right Lee?!) is the place where Athena and Poseidon squared off to see who the city would be named after. Athena produced an olive tree, thus kicking Poseidon's ass (cuz all he could muster after splitting the ground with his trident was a bleedin' horse), and ensuring that the capital of Greece was not Poseidon's.

Okay, okay, I'm sure I've bored you all to tears. Next stop was the Ancient Agora which was the main centre of Athens, where those toga clad Athenians would meet to hang or do business, and you could almost hear Socrates expounding on about something!

Tomorrow, I head to Delphi to see if the Oracle has any news for me, then on on to Mycenae (of Agamemnon/Clytaemnestra fame-okay, I won't go into any more history, but some of you might remember that those were the names of my fishes, and she ended up killing him. Coincidence? I think not! And yes, Clytaemnestra was the fish I performed the autopsy on).

I am having a little trouble getting used to this solo traveller thing. Today, I tried to set up my camera for a shot of me in front of the Parthenon and as I was waiting for it to take, a huge gust of wind almost took my camera over the wall. That photo will either be of the sky with maybe a bit of the Parthenon in the corner, or of my horrified face as I realise my camera is going over the 20 foot wall. Anybody who wants a copy of that 'keeper', let me know.

I hope everyone is doing well and getting ready for Christmas!

Love,

Jen