Posts Tagged ‘travel’

Susan’s Wacky Travel Tips (Airplane Edition)

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

wacky-travel-tips-airplane

Here are some wacky travel tips, in case you are traveling by airplane any time soon:

  1. If your feet stink, don’t take your shoes off in the airplane. But for people with non-stinky feet, taking your shoes off makes you feel so much better. Your mood will improve. So go ahead and make yourself comfortable.

  2. If the seat beside you is not occupied, put up the arm rest, and you can actually sit cross-legged. If not, stand in the aisle and do stretches. Don’t be self-conscious. Everyone else will be jealous of you, that you have the audacity to do what they are hankering to do themselves.

  3. Don’t step into the airplane bathroom without your shoes on. The floor is suspiciously sticky.

  4. Don’t go to the bathroom in an airplane that has turbulence when you’re trying not to sit down or even touch the toilet seat. You will only add to the stickiness of the floor.

  5. Be aware that you will be ravenously hungry all day, since the airlines have decided to starve their passengers. Go ahead and bring food in your bag so you don’t faint.

  6. Time goes by much faster if you watch a movie, even if it’s lame. I watched the same movie three times on three different airplanes within the same week, and it was much better the third time around when I had earphones. It was actually funny, and it made more sense. (The first couple of times, my husband and I did voice-overs and tried to guess what was going on.)

  7. Kindness is better than yelling at people. A mother was fuming about her rights, because she had been seated apart from her 12-year-old. No one rewarded her rude behavior by changing seats. On the other hand, when I was seated apart from my husband on the way to the Bahamas, I told the people around me that I was finally going on the honeymoon I never had. It took no time before everyone had re-arranged themselves to make sure I was sitting next to my husband. I told everyone they were awesome, and they smiled at me.

  8. I’m not sure why being degraded and humiliated by the archway of nudity and shame is acceptable in our society. (I’m talking about the body scanner.) If you are a woman who has any abuse in your background, go directly to the pat-down area. Yes, it’s invasive, but there’s no way you’ll go through that archway.

  9. If you only have one carry-on when you’re traveling, it’s much simpler. Your baggage doesn’t get shipped to Tahiti.

  10. And now for number 10. Drum roll please… I never knew this, but most airline seats now have head rests that are bendy. So go ahead and bend the head rest into a U-shape and pretend you’re taking a nap…

Crete: Palace of King Minos

Wednesday, January 5th, 2011

Before I was married, while I wpalace-of-king-minosas still a student in England, I took a cheap tour to Greece and the Greek Islands. I stayed at the bottom of the ship in an ugly room with women who were strangers. We pulled our bunks out of the wall. Dirt cheap. But I got to see the palace of King Minos on the island of Crete.

palace-of-king-minos-2There was a labyrinth under the ground where the Minotaur (a half-man, half-bull), according to legend, used to eat 7 girls and 7 boys from Athens every year. Finally Theseus, the son of Aegeus, king of Athens, went over to Crete to fight the Minotaur. Ariadne, princess of King Minos, fell in love with Theseus and gave him a spool of thread so that he could find his way back out of the labyrinth again. Theseus went into the dark labyrinth, groping his way along the reeking corridors,  killing the Minotaur. He found his way back out with the string.

When he sailed back to Athens, his dad jumped off the cliff because Theseus had forgotten to change the color of the sails. (White sails meant Theseus was returning victorious, and black sails indicated that he had died. The sails were black.) So the Aegean Sea was named after King Aegeus, who had hurled himself into the sea, and Theseus became the new king.palace-of-king-minos-3palace-of-king-minos-4

My Visit to Athens, Greece

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

athens-greece

Many years ago, before I even started dating my husband, I visited Athens, Greece. I went on a cruise by myself, bunking with two other single women that I met after I boarded the ship.

When I saw the Parthenon, it was almost surreal as I stood there and touched it. Everything was super tall.

acropolis-athens

The columns were carved elaborately, and the entire temple made you feel eerie. People used to worship Athena in this place.

athena-statue

Athena had apparently won a contest against Poseidon, so she had the city of Athens named after her. Above is pictured a statue of Athena located on top of a tall pillar.

columns-athens

I saw other structures like the famous amphitheater, where theatrical performances began. I also saw the temple of Zeus, which only had a few remaining columns (pictured above).

mask-of-agamemnon

In the Museum of Athens, many famous works of art were displayed, such as the golden mask of Agamemnon, which is beautiful and creepy.

athens-museum

Many other statues and sculptures could be seen, even though most of the greatest historical pieces of art were taken to the British Museum in London.

zeus-statue

I really enjoyed my visit to Athens, Greece. It’s as if history was suddenly standing before me, just the way it was in ancient times!

Egypt

Friday, September 10th, 2010

EgyptAlmost two decades ago, I had a chance to go to Egypt. Since I was living in England at the time, it didn’t cost very much to go on a cruise down the Nile River. I have to say, it was the most exotic-looking place I’ve ever been. Because I’m a tightwad, I took a cheaper tour that did not include the pyramids, and now I regret my decision. The most famous sight in Egypt is the pyramids, so I should have splurged and spent double the money. Oh, well. I asked my husband if we could take our children to Egypt on a “field trip,” you know, after I’m rich and famous. He said, “Are you kidding?! They’re killing Americans over there!”Egypt-2

The thing that struck me most strongly about Egypt was the enormity of all the stone sculptures. Almost everything was done in a very large way. Palm trees lined the edge of the Nile River, and beyond that were sand dunes as far as the eye could see. White long-necked birds flew along the edge of the river.

I entered King Tut’s tomb, which was almost like a cavern cut into the mountain. It was smaller than I thought, but everything was so elaborate, including the paintings that covered the walls. Hieroglyphs were painted everywhere, telling stories about the young king’s life.

Sphynxes lined different Egypt-3cobbled streets, and I saw the ruins of many famous cities, including the Colossi of Memnon statues in Thebes. They were tall and creepy, and they were roped off, so you couldn’t actually touch them.

Abu Simbel was a temple in Ramses. It had four large statues of men sitting at the entrance. Inside, large statues lined the hallway, and an eerie feeling crept over me, almost like there was something demonic about the statues. I had a sense of awe, but it was a creepy awe that included a strange fear. I can’t quite explain it, but I was glad to be out of there when the tour finished.