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!