PICTURES!!!

Pictures are up!

There are two sets from Greece:
One is the pictures from my camera...
The other is pictures from my friend Mandy's camera since I used hers a bit as well.

Enjoy! And feel free to comment!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisarmstrong/

And the conference begins...

Went to opening ceremony and a talk by one of my favorite scholars last night in an outdoor amphitheater at the Rethymno Fortress. We skipped the wine reception in favor of crepes since there were far more people in attendance than we had anticipated.

In a few hours I will head to the conference site and sit in panels all day, which I actually find quite interesting, but it does signal the end of lazy days for a bit. My presentations are on Saturday and Sunday, so I can at least sit back and relax a bit today. I'll check back in and let you know how it all goes.

PS-- Another sunburn... all new spots

Creta ... Week 1

My first week in Creta has been great. I've succeeded (minimally, but a big step for me) in letting go a bit and relaxing. I spent a day on the beach and sunbathed as the Eupoeans do, which left me with some unfortunately placed sunburn. I took the mext day easy and tried to stick to the shade for the most part.

On Saturday, we took a cruise to Santorini, which was beautiful. I would love to spend a week or two doing absolutely nothing on that island. Those pictures you often see of the white buildings on the cliff with the blue domes... that's Santorini. Great pictures, but I haven't gotten to a place where I can upload yet... pictures may have to wait until I get back.

We took another beach day, and let me tell you... the water here is phenomenal! It's the perfect temperature and the sea floor is clean (no cutting your feet up on shells) and you can see to the bottom. Minimal sunburn that day.

Yesterday we ventured to Chania and wandered the Venitian port. It was beautiful as well. We're moving to Rethymnon today to get settled before the conference, and I'm sad to leave Panormo. New adventures.

More later...

PS -- if anyone has any news on whether or not Bellefonte was flooded... let me know.

Crete Arrival

I made it to crete yesterday. Mady and I flew in to Iraklion and found no one waiting for us... for quite some time. Or friend Jen and her mom were supposed to pick us up, but got lost so we spent about an hour chatting with the locals and devising contingency plans (most of which involved the Kantina across the street). We did meet up with them and made it to our resort in ... I don't even know what town I'm in more on that later. It's right on the beach and absolutely beautful. I slept for 8 hours last night... slowly becoming human again.

I think today will be a beach day, but I really feel like this is a place to do a whole lot of nothing... which could be the best thing for me.

Athens .. Part 1

I got into Athens in the wee hours of the morning and ... of course... couldn't sleep. I've lost track of how delerious is justifiable. So tonight I'm leaing the senanigans on the roof bar with a view of the Acropolis for the more subdued kitchen to sit with my herbal tea and a book. As part of this ornate bedtime preparation, I took a shower. Let me tell you... IT's HOT! Today we went on a tour with some folks from the hostel to Delphi -- which was amazing. I would highly reccommend it.
So I can't promise I'll have one everyday, but here's my thought for today:
It's an interesting experience to sit amongs these ancient ruins, and to realize that evey tree I am looking at was not even a seed when the ity was at it's peak.

More tomorrow... time for bed.

Please feel free to leave me comments ;-)

Amsterdam

Quick few notes on Amsterdam:
I only spent 8 hours here so I can't make a fair assessment, but while I really liked Amsterdam... I didn't find it to be altogether spectacular. Of course there are certain particularly notorious benefits to this city, but I can't see myself making a special trip here in the future. I would, of course be happy to stop in on my way through at any time. Especially since I got an amazing Thai foot massage today!

The Trip

For those of you who don't know I 'm on my way to Greece for a conference and a much needed vacation. The conference is in Crete and I'll be on the island for about 2 weeks altogether. I've got a bit of time in Athens both ways and I spent today in Amsterdam. I'm just a day into the trip and have had about 8 hours of sleep in the last 3 days combined so I won't ramble too long for now, but be sure to check in and I'll update when I can and hopefully upload some pictures as I go as well.