Traveling to the land of antiquity.
They say that's it's not about the desination but about the journey. 17 hours and 7 time zones later, yeah, remind me to punch that guy. Read on to hear about my last night in America, old friends, some of my traveling companions and my travels to the city of Iraklion on the island of Crete. Also don't forget to check out the new Mediteranean 2006 photo album.
My flight to Paris was out of Logan airport in Boston. Since my good friend Collean recently moved to Boston I thought I would go up a day early and pay her a visit. In typical Webb style I gave her only 24 hours warning of my visit.
While worthy of her very own entry/book or maybe even an arrest warrant, I'll just remark that Collean and I go back to our� shall I say� less presentable days. Although our contact since our undergraduate days has been sporadic, we have managed to keep in touch over the years and remain close friends. Now that she is so close I hope to see her more often.
Collean and her roommate (whose name I already forgot :| ) picked me up at South Station. Then it was off to their apartment to drop off my bag before taking me straight to their favorite Irish pub. As we drank it became apparent that someone was getting married the next day. A group of girls with helium balloons tied to their hair and a separate bunch of guys in suits made from materials derived from the electric kool-aid acid test staggered endlessly around the block. Where was my camera?
It was supposed to be a quiet relaxing night but of course all those plans fell through when she received a call from her office's event planner. The event planner was organizing an impromptu pub crawl and Collean�s presence was requested. What can I say? When a professional event planner organizes a pub crawl, you have to go; you just do.
Fast-forward a few hours, a few pubs, a few beers, a few shots, a few mixed drinks, a live band, some dancing� you get the idea. So there we are, 2:00am and wondering if Collean going to live through the cab ride to the apartment. The whole experience just took me back to younger days.
The morning sun came early the next day and illuminated the white stone statue of the Virgin Mary mounted on the church across the street from Collean�s apartment. Oh the irony of the situation.
After pulling ourselves together we went down to the East side of town to another Irish joint. Here's another one of my theories: When your Irish and you develop a well-earned reputation for drinking, you eventually develop the perfect hangover cure, the Irish breakfast. This meal stays with you for the rest of the day and makes you realized that you are going to be fine and possibly boozing it up again later that day. The meal consists of blood sausage, ham, some other mystery meat, potatoes and eggs. Add a cup of two of tea and yeah, it cures what ales ya.
As much as I wanted to just hang out and explore the 300+ cable channels Collean insists she can't live without, I had to bid her and her roommate thanks and farewell because in a few hours I was going to be crossing the Atlantic.
At the airport I ran into Jimmy, Chris and Matt, the first of the motley crew I would soon be sailing with. Jimmy and Chris are graduate students at the University of Rhode Island where I work. Matt is a friend of Dr. Ballard and flew into Boston from Jackson Hole, WY.
The flight to Paris was awesome. Everyone had their choice of a dozen movies, music channels, TV shows and video games. The crew was friendly, the food was great, the coffee was some of the best I�ve had since Ecuador and the wine just kept flowing. This was the way to fly. It made me wonder how the domestic carriers are still in business?
In Paris we had a two hour layover before boarding our next plane to Athens. From Athens we boarded another plane for the city of Iraklion on the island of Crete. By the time we made it to Crete we have been traveling for 17 hours and had crossed 7 time zones.
Once in Iraklion the group of us caught a cab for the hotel. After my first foreign cab experience in the Azores I�ve really learned to enjoy these events. You�re basically in a completely unfamiliar environment (foreign, if you will) being led to someplace you know equally nothing about, where the rules you are used to no longer apply, by someone who doesn�t, or at best, can barely speak English. So it�s sorted like a catching a cab in Manhattan.
Despite the odds we made it safely to the hotel where we met the another traveling companion, Dan. Since we had spent most of the day traveling we decided to catch a quick dinner before calling it a night. The next day we would be moving aboard our home for the next seven weeks, the R/V Endeavor.
one comment:
Yeah, my name’s effin’ Natalie. Learn it, love it. Hope everything is going well, enjoy yourself! 
Collean's roommate (email) - 20 05 06 - 08:00