Well, Athens has some great views. We were wandering around and decided to hit up the Acropolis. It's pretty cool. I got yelled at for no reason what-so-ever. When I can post up pictures, I'll explain, but seriously...no good reason what-so-ever. Anyway, we did get a pretty spectacular view. Not much to report really. We just need to put up pics at some point. Athens does seem particularly dirty though, and I cannot wait to get to the Islands. I'm pretty exhausted, so more later. Lyd and Liz made it though, and they did a great job. We are allowing them to crash now. More to come!

Athens is a shit hole. I know that that is awfully strong, but seriously. It's nasty. There are cigarette butts everywhere, and the ground is flat out dirty. I cannot wait to get to the islands. Not to mention that the guys are way more forward than they ought to be. They have all ready harassed Mary/us too much for my liking. 1. I don't know you. 2. You're in my personal space. 3. No, I don't want to do whatever it is you're asking about. 4. Do not touch me. 5. Eff off. It's insane. I'm really not a fan. I also hate begging. I mean, I want to help humanity as much as the next person, but let me do it on my own terms. Leave me the eff alone. I guess they have to ask, but ask once and back off. Geeze. Also, there was this little girl carrying around lighters and keychains. I don't know if someone is making her do it or not, but if they are, I'm pissed. To take advantage of a child like that. It's unforgivable. I just can't stand it. Also, there are supposedly tons of stray dogs around here. That also gets to me. If you are reading this, you probably know I love animals, and that kind of blatant disregard pisses me off. Obviously, I am not having the best time so far. OH! Also, people need to work on their customer service skills. Okay, yes, I am a tourist, but would it kill you to smile and say hello? Come on! How do you expect to make money with that kind of service...semi-ignore us while glancing up every now and again. Maybe she didn't understand our English, but she could have smiled.

Okay, rant over. In other news, the Aran Islands were beautiful. We were exhausted from riding bikes all over the island, but it was worth it. We made it to Sixmilebridge in Ireland, and the hostel (Jamaica Inn), was not what I expected. It was bright and colorful, and the facilities were decently clean, but it wasn't close to anything; they had no computers; hardly anyone was there; we stayed in an eight bedroom with an older woman who had flatulence issues; I couldn't wait to leave. They told us that Bunratty Castle was within walking distance. About that. It is about 7 kilometers (3.5ish miles) 'down the road'. Yes, we walked it, and it was ridiculous. We made it to the castle and folk grounds which really were pretty neat and had to be to make up for such a long walk. We saw houses from the 16th to early 19th century, Bunratty Castle, and lots of animals (pony, horse, cows, sheep, random deer, etc.). I guess I know I'm more interested in the animals than the history. Anyway, it was just fine. We opted for the cab ride home at 10 euros. Better than walking another 3.5 miles. We returned, ate, showered, crashed, got up around 3:45, met our cab at 4:15 and made our way to Shannon Airport. We made it to Greece without incident. Just a lot of exhaustion. Here we are, and I cannot wait for Liz and Lyd to get here. I think we'll feel safer with them around. Four are better than two, and we'll get our own bathroom.

Love to you all!

Things I am grateful for and will try not to take for granted:
Water Fountains * High pressure water * Grocery bags * 1 Faucet instead of 2 * Garbage Cans * Soap in bathrooms * Normal Flush Toilets * Air Conditioning Everywhere * Constant water flow in showers (none of this button pushing nonsense) * Space to move in a shower.

I don't think I've posted in a while. We went to the Cliffs of Moher yesterday, and they were spectacular. I definitely recommend going if you get the chance to go. We basically did a tour of the Burren and the Cliffs with Desmond Murrey (sp?). He was great! Very friendly and goofy and an all around good tour guide. Ireland, at least near Galway, is covered in Limestone, and it's all cracked and broken from the ice age about 10,000 years ago. There are no tress, just shrubs and flowers growing up through the cracks. They have all these really cool stone walls that are built everywhere too. I can't imagine living at a time when you would need to build the stone walls and how long that took to do! When we got back, we went to the grocery store and hung out with Sophie and Stephanie--two girls from the hostel. There is a world sailing race, and the sailors are here for two weeks, so that's fun. We haven't seen the races, but we have seen the racers wandering around. We went to one pub...don't remember what it's called. I had a sip of Guinness as promised, but I then just had to have my Bolmers cider. It was decent. We went to the King's Head to listen to some live music. We met some people from D.C., Chicago, Italy, and Puerto Rico. I don't remember their names. Stephanie is from Germany and Sophie is from California. Good times all around. I let Mary return to the hostel by herself, and afterwards, I was super mad at myself for allowing that. I should have just gone back with her. I would have been happier that way. The girls were nice, but they wanted to keep partying, and I wanted to sleep. Bleh. I won't let Mary out of my sight again, nor anyone else!

Today we went to the Aran Islands. Inis Mor to be exact. It is 7 miles long and 2 miles wide. We took quite a treck around the place via bicycle. I was soooo tired. Mary was awesome and didn't get off the bike. I had to walk up a few hills. I thought I would die! We saw lots of horses, cows, old crumbling buildings, rock walls, and there were even a few beaches. There were a couple seals playing in the water, but they were really far off. It was a long day with a lot of sun, so we got back, printed things off, had dinner (pb & j, woo!), and now I'm here updating. Hope all is well at home. I'm feeling a little homesick right now. This is quite a long trip!

Hello all! We had a lovely night and day in Cambridge. We went to a club called Revolution that played awesome music. We drank and danced and it was lovely. The next day we went punting; if you ever get a chance to go punting, do it! It's so much fun. We all took a turn punting, and even if it took us forever to get back, I had a good time directing us into every boat we passed. We had Pimms at the Anchor which is a little pub. It's a combination of pimms, lemonade, fruit, and something else...it was nice and light, fresh and fruity. We came back from punting, had Chinese, hung out for a bit, repacked, and slept until we had to get up. Alex was awesome and took us to the airport despite the early hour. We checked in and made it to Ireland without incident.

After a bit of a delay thanks to the random runners doing a marathon through Cork, we made it out to Blarney Castle, walked the grounds, kissed the Blarney stone, had a sandwich and smoothies, and went back to Cork. We visited the Butter Museum, which had the most disturbing video. More on that later. Remind me sometime. We tried to ring the bells, but it closed at 4, so we didn't have any luck with that. We wandered back, grabbed subway, and took the bus to Galway. Here we are! We checked in, I got a shower, we went to McDonalds (tragedy I know, but it's dark, and that seemed safe), and that's my quick update. Hope you all are doing well!

Quick update: We hung out on base and went in the tower and got to see life support. Tommy had his first lieutenant promotion today, so we went to that. We hung around base some more, went to his celebration, came back, and went out in Bary. More later!

Hello and greetings from Newmarket, UK. We have had the longest day ever. I left the states around 1:20 pm and got in around 2:30 am. That's 6:55ish am UK time. We ran into Roni and Alex at the airport very quickly. We made it successfully. I spent the first flight mostly sleeping, but I had a nice chat with the guy next to me towards the end. He has a pit bull, works for the Air Force in logistics, is divorced, has a son, has his own plane, and seemed like a really nice guy.

From DC to Philadelphia I slept next to a nice girl that I did not speak to at all. Then I met up with Mary at the Philadelphia airport. I was running late, and I thought Mary would all ready be there waiting on the plane, but she caught up with me while I was boarding. We weren't sitting next to each other, but I sat next to a very nice woman who was coming back home from California (visiting friends). The other woman is visiting her newly married daughter in London. They will be spending some nice time together. I slept a bit (didn't watch any movies but Inkheart was showing). The plane was a total rip-off. We were charged so much, and there were only three seats, an aisle, and three seats. There weren't TVs in every seat...they were up in the plane...maybe 5? Then they offered headsets for $5. Those used to be free! Apparently I've been spoiled on my previous trips overseas.

We got off the plane, and when we went through customs, I experienced the Spanish Inquisition from the check guy. He wanted to know what I was doing, what I had been doing, how I was funding my trip, what my future plans are, etc etc. It was ridiculous. I felt like I was being scrutinized. I promise I won't be a bum staying here forever! Mary didn't get any questions...not really anyway.

We came back to Alex's apartment, wandered around Newmarket looking at the horses (there are many around here-it's a major racing town). The jockeys were quite friendly despite Alex's previous experiences. Then we went to the Air Force Base where Alex is stationed. We grabbed some lunch at a pizza place where we met Tommy, and then we went to try and watch the jets take-off again. We missed them multiple times. Then we got to check out an F15 C and an F15 E. It was so awesome. I couldn't take pictures, sadly, but it was really cool. They have all sorts of radars and buttons and screens. Okay, that's a really sad description, but they are cool. We checked out various missiles after that (250 lb, 500 lb, 1000 lb, and 2000 lb). They were filled with concrete, but it was really sweet to see them and have them explained.

We then went to watch the jets landing (we did get to see this, I do have pictures!). We then came back to Alex's, chilled out for a bit, rode Tommy's motorcycle, then went to an Indian restaurant. I have never been on a motorcycle, and it was quite the experience. It was so amazing. Partly scary and partly freeing. The Indian restaurant was really quite delicious (even if they got a huge tip for mischarging me...whatever).

Now we are chilling, and I'm typing this as Alex, Roni, Mary, and Tommy play slaps. We are watching Bear Gryllis and playing. I'm going to jump in next round so I can lose. I can't wait to get some sleep, but it can wait a bit

So I haven't posted in a while. Turns out that I'm better at posting pictures than words. I'm not where I wanted to be at this point in my life. This wasn't in the plans, but it will get better. I have been going through old documents that we discovered. These are from 7th and 8th grade, and I'd like to share some bad jokes with you from old math worksheets:
Did you hear about the rookie football player who kept asking his coach to flood the football field with water so he could go in as a sub?
Why did the bank robber run home and jump in the shower?
That's where he had his hide out.
What is green and makes holes?
adrillpickle
What do hitchhikers do when school lets out?
Take a thumber vacation
What has long hair and purple feet?
Alien that makes its own wine
Why shouldn't you let a doctor put one of those sticks in your mouth?
You don't know who ate the ice cream
Who saw the Brontosaurus Enter the Restaurant?
The Diners Saw
How Did Alfo make a quart of juice from three oranges?
It was a tight squeeze
What do you get when the post office burns down?
A case of black mail
What do gorillas sleep on in fruit orchards?
Apricots

I hope you enjoyed the dorkiness of the jokes as much as I did.
Also, I found a note from Kevin (hey Reeves if you read this, this one is for you). At least I am 90% sure it was from him in 7th grade or so. It said "TAAS TAAS KICK MY AAS"

That is all.