Home at last, and going to bed. Have officially been awake for 30+ hours.

Well, I have made it to OKC, the last leg of my flights. Very stormy looking. Now for the drive to Tulsa. Yay. (note sarcasm here)

After the customs cluster, I did get on an earlier flight. Yay. Good thing bad weather in OKC delayed the earlier flight or I would have missed it.

Customs in Houston is stupid. They need more agents to get all these people through.

Well, we have arrived in Houston. Now for a 5 hour lay over. Gonna see if I can get an earlier flight back.

Made it through the first leg of the journey to arrive in Germany. Is it appropriate to buy a German souvenir in the airport? Does the airport count as an official visit to the country and even warrant a souvenir?? Since the car was built here, maybe I'll get a cool Germany keychain for the new car's keys. Hmmm

Headed to the airport. First time since we met up with the other part of our group we left on time. We actually left early!

It's 0200 on the last day of my trip. Leaving for the airport in about an hour. Still running a 102 fever. This is going to be a long day.

Well, it is now 1840 here in Athens and I still have a 102 fever. My face is hurting so I'm going to assume it's a sinus infection. I am also going to assume it's a virus, because I would think the antibiotics I'm taking for strep throat would cover most bacterial infections. What a way to end my trip. This sucks!!!

Woke up with a 103 fever this morning. Makes me very sad that I missed seeing the Acropolis. Feel terrible and my fever has only come down to 102. What the heck is going on. How can I be sick again??!!

Ok. So this is gross...but I have an additional roommate. She is 300+ pounds and decides to shower and come into the room naked. GROSS. That's all I have to say about that.

Smart Car + Italy and Greece = great idea and very handy.
Smart Car + United States = absolutely ridiculous. No really.

We have arrive in Athens, just in time for rush hour, crawling, dead stop traffic. Woo hoo!

Ancient Delphi is not near as impressive as Pompeii. I suppose not many ruins would be. On another subject: comfort stops is what they call toilet breaks around these parts. Kinda funny. I'm gonna start using that phrase now. :-)

Ancient Delphi is on the side of the mountain. Ok. So, there must be something wrong with me. 300lb+ and old (65+) people can make this climb effortlessly. Not me. Out of breath rather quickly, and it's not a hard climb. Boo. Beautiful views from the top though.

So this morning for breakfast, I wandered outside my comfort zone and had goat's milk and sheep Greek yogurt. I absolutely prefer cow(bovine) dairy products. Yes indeed. Off to ancient Delphi and then Athens.

Supper was meatballs and rice. Went across street to shop and got serenaded by the owner of the store. Too funny. Off to bed. Once again, an early morning and long day.

We have arrived at our hotel in Delphi. Quaint little town. Reminds me a lot of Whistler. Narrow streets and lined with shops. I noticed in Italy you don't turn the handle to open a door. You push a button on top. Greece is the same way. Habit of turning a door knob is hard to break. Quick nap then supper at 1930.

Interesting valley Delphi sits near. Over 1 million olive trees in the area. Don't try to count them. You'll lose count. Lol. :-)

Fist experience with a toilet in Greece. Yay, there is a lid and a seat!! Woo hoo. The little things in life that please me.

For the 3rd day in a row it's raining....and for the 3rd day in a row I left my umbrella packed in my suitcase. Great.

My first experience with food in Greece isn't turning out so well. Everything on the menu is fish, shellfish, and other types of sea food. Sticking with a cheese pie. Hopefully it's good. Here I go...

We just arrived in Greece. Waiting to get off ferry. Last night's ride wasn't too bad until we docked and took off again.

We are playing Pass the Pigs and drinking to pass the ferry time...

Well, we have arrived on the ferry to a cluster of room assignments. Yay. Also, jumped 1 HR ahead the minute we stepped on the ferry. It is Greek time we are on now.

The weather in Italy is craptacular. Rain, rain,and more rain. I'm hoping the sea isn't too rough. I sure don't want to be sea sick for 12-plus hours.

No looking forward to the 4 plus hour bus ride to meet the ferry to Greece. Carb overload and sleep?? I think so....where's my Pringles.

No looking forward to the 4 plus hour bus ride to meet the ferry to Greece. Carb overload and sleep?? I think so....where's my Pringles.

You must pay .10 euro per plastic bag and .70 euro per paper sack at a Pompeii super market. :-(

Pompeii is amazing. Wish all the houses were open and we'd had more time to wander. I also wish it hadn't come a gully warsher on us.

So, here we are Monday morning. Wake up call was at 0600. Ewe (not the sheep). Off to Pompeii and then the overnight ferry to Greece. Lord help me I don't get sick. Yes mom AND Robb, I have my scope patch on already.

Ok. So just because you can climb to the top of a volcano in Italy when it's cold, windy as heck, and raining...doesn't mean you should. Just sayin...

Horn honking around corners. Brings back memories of a July...

So we just had dinner half way up to Mt Vesuvio...as the Italians call it. Not bad. But, for those of you who know my washroom habits. In all the washrooms I've seen, there hasn't been 1 seat/lid on the toilets!! Lol

Ok. So we are driving up to parking at Mt Vesuvius. The road is narrow and winding. About a 1.75 lane. Not quite 2 lanes. These people are freaking out. Meeting a bus or car on a corner...this ain't got NOTHING on Nepal roads. This road has shoulders and guard rails. Lol. Killing me.

The new bus has arrived. It's a Mercedes bus, much newer, and MUCH nicer. Yay. Here we go...again.

Still standing on the side of the road....waiting.

Well, the bus is caput. Waiting on another bus to take us the rest of the way....good thing it's not hot today.

Holy crap the bus is on fire. No really. It is smoking and we have pulled off to the side of the road. Mt Vesuvius must wait.

As I was wandering through the Uffizi museum today, I began to wonder how accurate the portraits and sculptures are in their depictions of the way people looked. In the paintings, the women weren't that attractive, and sometimes hard to decipher whether it was a woman. (had to check out the clothing) All the sculptures looked like women in the faces. Men in their portraits looked...well, let's just say they looked very feminine and maybe had a hankerin for another man. I noticed some other things about the anatomy of the sculptures, but I won't go into those... Things that make you go hmmm...

After a long day in Florence, I got 4 cheese pizza to bring back to eat. Super tired. I supposed I am spoiled to American pizza, because my second attempt at pizza in Italy has failed horribly. I can't even eat it it's so disgusting. At least the first attempt was tolerable...and that's saying a lot. Climbing a volcano tomorrow. Off to bed I go.

Saw the most horrendous wedding dress on a bride today. Went into a little church and got blessed. Saw several antique Ferrari's and one newer racing one. Almost got run over by The Situation..that jackass can't drive. (please don't ask how I knew it was him). Went through the Uffizi and saw a parade of antique cars. Overall, a great day after I ditched the other crew and went out on my own. Saw some dead dude's under The Duomo too. :-)

I just climbed to the top of The Duomo. NEVER again!! I'm having flashbacks of Nepal...and that is NOT a good thing.

Ok. This group/organized tour to Florence is the biggest cluster I have been a party to. Should have just come by myself. Would have been more productive! Oh well. Guess I'll make the best of it.

OMG. I'm in shoe heaven!! Too bad the stores aren't open yet. :-(

We have arrived in Florence after an uneventful train ride.

High speed rail to Florence, and not one person from my group is going. It's going to be a long day....by myself.

Standing in the Termini Station in Rome I see many, many nuns. Expected with the Vatican here in Rome. My question is: what's the difference between all the colored habits the difference groups of nuns are wearing?

Yesterday after the Pantheon, we went to the Vatican, the Sistene Chapel, and St Peter's Basilica. There is actually a dead pope in there. Gross. Iris bar for wicked spicy pasta and a bottle of wine. Then finally home by midnight after Rome by night. Needless to say it was a short night. :-(

It's wicked early and I'm off to Florence.

Old MacDonald had a Farm, in Italian, is a song you Never want to hear. Trust me...

Just toured the Pantheon and had something to eat in the square. Very hot today. I've noticed there's no napkins or trash cans. Guess the Italian people aren't messy or trashy. :-)

After a hard day of sight seeing, we are going clubbing Rome style!!

We are at the Coliseum waiting to enter. As we passed the "wedding cake" building there is something going on. Lots of police, security, and people with shiny buttons. Many dignitaries as well, pulling up in fancy cars. There is even mounted police. The horses are beautiful.

Just toured the Pantheon and had something to eat in the square. Very hot today. I've noticed there's no napkins or trash cans. Guess the Italian people aren't messy or trashy. :-)

We are at the Coliseum waiting to enter. As we passed the "wedding cake" building there is something going on. Lots of police, security, and people with shiny buttons. Many dignitaries as well, pulling up in fancy cars. There is even mounted police. The horses are beautiful.

We went to St Paul's Basilica. Apparently it's not a place most "group" tours get to see. There is a place his body is supposedly buried you can look at over a rail. The building inside is very ornate and every Pope's picture lines the wall near ceiling. Reminds me a lot of the Buddhist Temples in Nepal, and the "grave" is VERY similar to the rock where Buddha was born in Lumbini. The city is a lot cleaner than I expected, but we really haven't explored too much. That's tomorrow.

Well, this sickness has gotten the better of me today. After we arrived and dropped our luggage at Hotel, we were on our own. We went to a part of town Mussolini built, a Basilica, and then ate pizza. Rode the Metro, sort of a subway/Amtrak/monorail type train. Came back to hotel to wait for the rest of our group to arrive around 1630. Supper at 1830, but I'm feeling awful. Between jet lag and being sick, I'm skipping supper and resting for the long day tomorrow.

I have landed in Rome. It was a fairly uneventful flight, except for periods of turbulence. I finally succeeded in running off my seat mate 20 min before the flight landed. Hahaha. Oh well.

Made it to DC. Flight very bumpy and being in an isle seat sucked. Upgraded to Rome and got a window. This will be much better, except for not being able to equalize my ears. Sick on an airplane...fun times. (Note sarcasm here)

Well, today is day 1 of my trip to Italy and Greece. Mostly a travel day. Just hanging out at the airport in OKC waiting to leave.

Welcome to my world travel blog. I hope you enjoy my travels as much I as do.