Post-Preblogging for Monday. Now with photos!!

Open letter to Dad:

Well. That didn't work out too well, did it?

Okay. Here (below) is the entry as it was meant to stand.

I think, while we're on the subject, that what's happening is that your E-mail client (Outlook or whatever you use) is sending the messages in HTML or Rich Text format. That is normally desireable, so that if you format your E-mail with fonts or bold or whatever, or if you use the "less than" and "greater than" symbols, the person who receives your message will see it the way you wrote it.

Whether or not you understand what I just said, I think that if you look in your Message Options (or equivalent) and disable "Send as HTML" or enable "Send as plain text" (depending on how it's set up), that has a good chance of removing the extraneous formatting from the messages so that Blogger can interpret the code the way it's supposed to.

Anyway, here's how the entry was supposed to look:



Today the quilters and I are staying in and sewing. Since there's not much to say about that, let's go to Athens instead!

Love,

Jen

(PS - Tell Pidomon that Phydeaux's right about that third frog.)

Oh good grief

See? This is what happens when I'm relatively on-time getting ready for the retreat.

I still have a lot to do, but I have time to do it, and I actually took a few minutes to read a blog or two and exchange a couple of E-mails with a new friend (Hi LM!).

Then I found out that Rita's computer has a virus and will be sent out for repair during the retreat.

So now I'm scurrying to preblog the next week in order not to miss a day for NaBloPoMo. I hope that still counts. If it even works. I have to say, I really think that if Blogger, the ugly stepsister of the blogging platforms, is sophisticated enough to let people post by E-mail, Yahoo could be expected to provide a "send on" feature for scheduling outgoing mail. But alas, it is not so. And the E-mail scheduler I used to preblog the Greece trip doesn't exist anymore, so that's out.

I think I'll just work up some drafts and then hope that Rita's guest will let me use her laptop for a couple of minutes at some point each day so I can log in and post them. She's pretty nice, and already knows me, so chances are good.

I did already let the retreat guests know that they could give my E-mail address to friends or family in case anyone needed to contact them, so I have a good excuse for needing to get online, if only for a couple of minutes, at some point each day.

Right? Right?

Preblogging: Leaving Istanbul for Cappadocia

Sunday, June 17 Today is our last day in Istanbul. We'll be taking the bus to the Cappadocia region this evening - it's such a long trip that it's an overnight bus. The buses are supposed to be quite comfortable at least, and Dad gave us each one of those inflatable travel pillows!


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Preblogging: Bosphorus

Saturday, June 16 Istanbul is a city divided. The western half of the city is in Europe, and the eastern half is in Asia. It is physically divided by the Bosphorus Strait, which links the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Here's a space photograph from Wikipedia's Istanbul entry: Inexpensive ferries run up and down the strait, and taking one amounts to a $6 cruise between Europe and Asia. That's the plan for today.


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Preblogging: Sights of Istanbul

Friday, June 15 Following the advice of travel writer Tom Brosnahan, we'll see the main sights of Istanbul today. Or we'll start out on his suggested itinerary anyway. There is an outside chance we'll get tired before doing it all, and if we do we can always save some for tomorrow!

ISTANBUL IN ONE DAY Istanbul's top sights are grouped right around the Hippodrome in Sultanahmet Square, so you can visit them all on your first (or only) day. MORNING Topkapi Palace (9-5, closed Tuesday; stay 2-3 hr). Get there at 8:45 am and go straight to the Harem, which gets overcrowded Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) (9-4, closed Monday; stay 1 hr). Right next to Topkapi. Don't miss the best mosaics, on the upper level. LUNCH nearby on Divan Yolu: Sultan Pub, Sultanahmet Köfteci, etc. AFTERNOON Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) (stay 1/2 hr). Just across the park from Ayasofya, on the Hippodrome. The mosque is closed to visitors for 25 minutes after each call to prayer, and for several hours midday on Friday. Byzantine Hippodrome (stay 1/2 hr). Enjoy the monuments in the park--if the postcard and carpet vendors will let you! Sunken Palace Cistern (Yerebatan Sarayi) (9-5; stay 1/2 hr). At the NE end of the Hippodrome beneath the little park. Grand Bazaar (9-5, closed Sunday; stay 1-2 hrs, longer if you're really shopping). Walk uphill on Divan Yolu from the Hippodrome and see the sights along the way, or take the tram along it to Çarsikapi (CHAR-shuh-kah-puh).

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Preblogging: Istanbul

Thursday, June 14 Our task for today is to reach Istanbul. It's a three-and-a-half hour bus ride, followed by a two-hour ferry. We will be staying at the SiDE Pension. I have no idea what is up with that capitalization, but they are in a great location and their rates are reasonable, so I'm prepared to live with it :) Rooftop garden with a view of the Blue Mosque, anyone?


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Preblogging: Turkey!

Wednesday, June 13 Today we take the ferry to Turkey! The ferry leaves from Molivos, where we have been staying, and reaches the Turkish town of Ayvalik about an hour and a half later. We'll be staying at the Taksiyarhis Pension. The pension is just a few blocks from the dock, so we should be able to get in and drop off our bags, then wander the cobblestone streets of the town and find ourselves some lunch. Well, we may need to find an ATM first - Greece uses Euros, but we'll have to get our hands on some New Turkish Lira for this part of our trip. (Photos from the Taksiyarhis Pension web site) Oh, and also? Happy Birthday to James!


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Preblogging: Getting ready to move on

Tuesday, June 12 The guest house in Lesvos will have helped us get the ferry tickets and do what we need to do with our passports by now. We need a visa to visit Turkey, but we don't have to process it in advance, just pay for it when we enter the country. I think we will have had to submit our passports to the Turkish immigration office here in Lesvos today, in anticipation of our trip tomorrow.


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Preblogging: Snorkeling

Monday, June 11 Today we'll continue exploring the island, turning in the rental car at the end of the day. I figure we'll rent snorkel gear for the day tomorrow, and there's one last hot spring that's close enough to visit without a car. (Photos from lesvos.com)


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Preblogging: Lesvos

Sunday, June 10 We'll be staying at the Nassos Guest House in the city of Molivos, on the northern shore of Lesvos. Molivos is built on a hill, topped by a medieval castle built by the Byzantines. We're renting a car for two of our three days here, so we'll be able to take in several of the local hot springs, stop by the various ruins or maybe the petrified forest on the western side of the island, and visit the town of Eressos, birthplace of the poetess Sappho. (Photos from lesvos.com)


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Preblogging: Heading to Lesvos

Saturday, June 9 Today we leave Kea and return to Athens. In the evening, we'll catch the ferry to the island of Lesvos. It's about a 12-hour trip, so we'll sleep on the ship. (Photo from lesvos.com)


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Preblogging: Sailing

Friday, June 8 Today, weather permitting, we'll spend the day sailing with Kostis Maroulis aboard the Soultana, visiting some of the deserted beaches around the island. Time to try out that tankini... (Photos from this web page about Kostis' sailing trips)


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Preblogging: Sailing

Friday, June 8 Today, weather permitting, we'll spend the day sailing with Kostis Maroulis aboard the Soultana, visiting some of the deserted beaches around the island. Time to try out that tankini... (Photos from this web page about Kostis' sailing trips)


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Preblogging: Kea

Thursday, June 7 Today we leave Athens for the island of Kea, also known as Tzía. Kea is the closest island to Athens, just a little over an hour by ferry. Getting there is our only responsibility for today; once we manage that, we'll just enjoy the beach - maybe try some ouzo and fresh sardines at a taverna on the beach...


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Preblogging: Acropolis

Wednesday, June 6 Today we'll go to the Acropolis and do whatever other sightseeing takes our fancy in Athens. I printed out a page of the Top 10 things to do in Athens, so if we finish with the Acropolis early in the day, we'll have some choices of where to head next.

1. The Parthenon: We'll already have done this.
2. The National Archaeological Museum: We may skip this because we'll be going to a similar thing toward the end of the trip.
3. The Agora-Athens Central Market: This has potential.
4. Mount Lycabettus: Uh, yeah. See where it says Maybe you took one look at this green mountain rising out of the center of Athens and said to yourself "I hope there is nothing important up there because I really don't feel like climbing a mountain...? Yeah, that.
5. The Plaka: I'm pretty sure we'll spend some time here, and this is where #9 is found as well.
6. Psiri: This is another neighborhood...I guess it depends where it is.
7. The Temple Of Poseidon at Sounion: Too far out of town for today.
8. Monastiraki Flea Market: Would have been very appealing, but it's only open on Sundays.
9. The Poet: Check this one out! Now where did I put that birthday money?
10. Pireaus: No need for a special trip; our hotel is here, so that's the first thing we saw!

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Preblogging: Frankfurt

Tuesday, June 5 Assuming all has gone according to plan (and assuming this system I've set up manages to post this at the right time), today we're spending some quality time at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany. CheapTickets.com has us on two different airlines, so I'm pretty sure we have to go through both customs and immigration even though we're just in transit. And I assume we'll need to present ourselves a couple-three hours before the next flight, so there won't be time to actually leave the premises and go exploring, but it's a major airport and we can probably keep ourselves relatively entertained while there. They have showers (6 Euros) if we need some help staying awake, and there's a "behind the scenes" airport tour that sounds like it would be a nice way to spend some time, if there's one running while we're there. There's a grocery store in the airport too, which is always interesting to see in a foreign country, and we'll have to look up this "Bretzel" that Charlotte recommends - some sort of food, is it? Our connecting flight to Athens leaves at something like 1:30 in the afternoon, and we get in at 5:00 p.m. local time, after crossing one last time zone.


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