Greece Lightning

We're now in Greece and liking it a lot. We arrived in Athens on Tuesday, went to two temples, and then got on a ferry to Crete, where we've been ever since. The ferry ride is very interesting. The ferry leaves at about 9 at night and gets to Crete at 5 in the morning. The crew members then yell in Greek over the loudspeaker for you to get off the boat. It's a very interesting way to wake up. Our hotel, the Hotel Olympia, is very interesting. Its one noteworthy feature is the bathroom, which is painted entirely lavender. The wall by the door is lavender, the doors themselves are lavender, the stalls are lavender...I think you get the idea. Louisa and I were horrified...she told me to mention to all of you how much she hates lavender. It reminds her of sick children and bruises. This bathroom is unreal.

We've made some new friends in Crete, many of them four-legged. Our first night here, four of us were walking to dinner and were followed by two dogs. They followed us loyally in circles around Crete until we reached a restaurant owned by a very nice Greek man who spoke English well. The next day, we were all walking when we saw one of the same dogs again! Words could not describe our delight. We've also made some feline friends, a fact that Sarabeth is very happy about.

One of the most interesting parts of our Grecian experience has been our bus. We have a yellow double-decker bus that takes us everywhere we need to go. The bus is driven by Spiros; he speaks no English. Thus, Dr. Krentz is the only one who can communicate with him. Two days ago, Spiros told Dr. Krentz that he thought it would rain on Thursday. Because of this, Dr. Krentz decided to switch our site visits so that we would have a longer drive on a sunny day rather than on a rainy day. Thursday, we all packed our rain jackets, expecting the heavens to open up at any time. However, the sky remained a beautiful blue and cloudless the entire day. Today, we woke up to rain. Go figure. I guess we shouldn't have counted on Spiros to predict the weather.