I've done it!

I have booked all my remaining weekends to travel.

Here's the rundown:


11/2-11/5 Dublin
11/7-11/10 Paris
11/17-11/19 Prague
11/22-11/25 Barcelona
11/30-12/2 Rome
12/7-12/9 Amsterdam (I am going to Utrech and hang out with those cool folks I met on the easyCruise).

It is getting so close to the time to come back to the states!

Hope that everyone is doing well. I'll be back with photos and details about Dublin after this weekend!
~Jenn

Greece Photos (so far)

Athens

Had to say goodbye to my new friends from Holland today :-( It was the last morning of the cruise, but prior to their departure to the airport we went out and had some lunch and walked up to the Acropolis. It was pretty amazing to be in the vicinity of such a rich historical place. I took a lot of pictures and also I took two short videos as well. Hopefully that will help you to better see the scope of the area. It was a LONG walk up a steep hill to get to the top and there were a lot of tourists up there too, but it was completely worth it to see these ancient masterpieces.

When we arrived at my Hotel, the Apollon Hotel I noticed a Kosmos Car Hire brochure, that's very close to my great grandfather's name Kosmas, so I sort of wonder if it's one in the same. It's not too common of a name here according to the hotel receptionist.

I would love to tell you more about the EasyCruise and all the stuff we did in Spetses as well but I really need to take advantage of this precious time I have found to use the internet and get to work on my homework project. So, until then please enjoy the photos!

Later~
Jenn

Jenn + Scooters = Bad Idea!!

Ok, so we are on another island in Greece today. It's really touristy and such but it's nice. I decided to hang out with two of the Dutch guys that I met the other day. We walked up the side of the hill/mountain and checked out the residential area, had some Gyros for lunch and then the great idea to rent scooters developed.

Anyone who knows me personally knows that I have zero coordination. That being said, it took me all of 10 minutes on that scooter to crash it! Now I have a few boo-boos (right elbow, right knee and left ankle) adding that to my head injury and folks would think that Greece is a warzone or something. Actually it's anything but that. It's an absolutely lovely relaxing place it's just that I am the world's biggest klutz!!

I took a ton of pictures of all of the raw beauty which I will upload to the blog when I get my laptop on wireless. Until then you'll just have to listen to me babble about my misadventures.

Anyways, running out of time on this account. I'll be back tomorrow.

Cheers!
~Jenn

Greece Part 2

Ah -- I love the media! It is because of reporters that everything on the cruise last night was free of charge! I took happy advantage of the open bar last night and got really really drunk (hehe) and then had some really great Greek food in the restaurant as well. It was really nice.

The first person I met was Steve a guy from London who's daughter works for EasyJet so he gets really great prices on these flights and cruises. He's loves them and has taken the easy cruise five or more times. Wow. He was very funny to talk to. After that I met some really fun folks from Holland. In particular Tim & Inga who were really great to hang out with. Everyone had so much fun hanging out on the boat last night and then today I went with them to a small beach near the military base and we just soaked up some sun and talked about travel. Tim is now or is close to getting his Ph.D. in psychology and Inga is a reporter for a Dutch newspaper so the conversation was good as well. Walking to the beach which was about 20 minutes from our ship was really nice. I love the way that the Greek houses are built into the sides of the hills. There are steps that take ypu up to the different lanes that run between them and there are little motorbikes everywhere. It's a really laid back place and I really like it.

I really wish I hadn't taken my friend's advice back in London when he said I could just wait until I got to Greece to buy some swimwear. Nothing is open so I am swimwear-less. I spent my time thinking about how nice that water must feel instead of experiencing it firsthand. Oh well..

Maybe tomorrow I'll find a swimsuit.
Until then.

~Jenn

Greece....Part 1

Ok, so I made it to Athens. Finding my cruise ship EasyCruiseOne was quite an ordeal. Before I even made it to the bus from the hotel I had my first mishap. I wasn't watching closely enough and I walked right into the corner of a sign. Ouch. Reach up to touch my head..and return a bloody hand. Ick. Returned to the hotel to see that it wasn't that serious, although it was a little harrowing to cut my head open, I started to actually worry about things that could go wrong when you are travelling along in a foreign country. Hmm. Suffice to say eventually it stopped bleeding and so I assume everything is ok.

As for getting to my cruise ship, yet another adventure. I took the train to the port. No problem, my ticket said Pairues, yet it wasn't specific. I walked like 2km around the port and didn't see the boat anywhere, asked some folks and none had even heard of it before. Turns out there is a Marina quite some way away where the boat was. I took a cab to another area, and got out and tried to catch the boat. Wrong again. Uggh. Finally, when I left that place I got into another taxi and that driver knew where this ship was. It's in a very nice port called Marina Zea. There is an increadible view of the city here and all the other boats around here are private yachts. Today is a special day on this ship. It appears that the owner of this cruise line is having some special event and there is a lot of free stuff going on (buffets, drinks etc.) There is a ton of press too. Very interesting. We'll see how the partying goes as the night progresses!

So, I guess I am just going to go and lie down and chill out for a while now. It has been a LONG day to say the least!!

Hope that everyone is well. I'll be back tomorrow for another update I think.

~Jenn

Fall Break

All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin
Its early morn
The taxis waitin
Hes blowin his horn
Already I'm so lonesome
I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Theres so many times Ive let you down
So many times Ive played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
Evry place I go, Ill think of you
Evry song I sing, Ill sing for you
When I come back, Ill bring your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time
Let me kiss you
Then close your eyes
Ill be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I wont have to leave alone
About the times, I wont have to say

Oh, kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

But, Im leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Ok, sorry for the corny John Denver lyrics!!

It's just about that time. Getting ready to go to Greece!I am really excited to see this country because my mother's dad is from there. I will be arriving late tonight, then tomorrow I am taking a cruise which will over the next three days take
me to Poros and Spetses followed up by two days in Athens. I am pretty excited about this adventure!

So, provided I get good internet access in my hotel and on the ship, check back in the next few days and see what has been going on.

Caio!
~Jenn

I'm Rick James Bitch!!

Yeah, I don't usually update this thing when I am not travelling but I thought that I would put this little update in...

I just met DAVE CHAPELLE!!!

I went to The Comedy Store to see the standard weekend show and after the set was over he just came out and gave us 30 minutes of improv. It was so funny!! His main topic of the news was discussion about the kid who got tased from UF!!

So funny!

Anyways enough of the bragging. Going to Greece this Wednesday night. Should be a good time. I'll send you guys some updates and photos when I can. If not expect a decent recap!

Cheers!
~Jenn

Edinburgh, Scotland - Photos!!

So, this has been a BUSY week. I am not going to travel this weekend (well maybe somewhere nearby but not out of the UK) however I finally arranged my fall break plans.

I decided to scrap Italy due to having issues securing what I feel will be a lower cost/safe place to stay. Instead I am going to Greece. I found a steal of a deal on an Island Hopping Cruise (It's 80gbp for 4 days which is transportation and lodging combined so quite a saver) so I will be exploring there.

I am already trying to figure out how I am going to get back to Europe after I leave here. I love it and I love the ability to go so many places. I will have lots of unchecked destinations on my to do list. Italy, Poland, Portugal etc. Going to have to get back quickly to see those.

Ok, back to work for me. Stop by here later in the week if I go on any exciting trips this weekend I will update. I might also take the cam out and get some more of London photographed. It has been a while since I have taken any pictures here.

Edinburgh, Scotland

I spent the day in Edinburgh, Scotland. I am very impressed.

The city center is very cool. It has a sort of medieval feel to it. There is a large hill/mountain in the center of the town. On the very top of it sits the Edinburgh Castle. To get to the castle I had to walk up a winding cobblestone road that had beautiful buildings lining the streets. In between some of the buildings there were staircases (very high ones) that winded through the alleyways between the buildings so that you could get to the top without walking up via the road. It just seemed like everywhere I went today I met really nice people. Not to knock the rest of Europe, but the folks that I met today seemed very friendly and interested in Americans and interested in people enjoying their time in Scotland. Everyone had a suggestion for a site that I should check out and shared an anecdote about their own travels to the US or their desire to travel there.

So, I managed to check out the castle (from the outside) and walked down the "Royal Mile" and also Princes Street. After that I had to make my way back to my hotel so that I could do some homework and here I am updating my blog instead. I took a few pictures of the city that will do more to convince you of what a nice place this is than I can do in this distracted little blog so I'll be sure to post them ASAP (probably Tuesday).

Time to hit the books.
~Jenn

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Wow, I am really behind. Every time I pick up my computer these days it's to do some work, so I didn't have a chance to update the blog. This weekend I spent a day in Amsterdam. It really wasn't long enough to do anything more than have a couple of meals, walk around and say that I have been there.

I took a couple of photos while I was there most are from the Red Light District. It's actually a pretty part of town...just seedy.

Anyways, sorry I didn't write more this time. I am going to Scotland this weekend, but I have a TON of work to do so I might again delay posting a blog to do my homework.

Anyways, Take Care!

~Jenn