Hello from Athens

Greetings Everyone

I am in Athens now. We arrived this evening. I hope you are getting excited!!! The weather has been great it has been warm but not too hot.

You can read about what I have been in Greece at http://mellon2006.blogspot.com Just click that and you can read all about it.

Here is just a few things to remember as you make finally preparations for the trip.

1. Bring only 1 bag to check and that bag should have rolling wheels if possible. Then you can bring a carry-on bag too. Be sure your carry-on or some bag you bring is handy to carry on the bus and also as we walk around. You will always want to carry wate, notebook, pen, sunscreen, camera, batteries etc. with you. You will not have access to your big bag as we travel and stop. You can bring a water bottle or buy a bottle of water and resuse it when you get here. You should carry water with you each day. Also bring and use sunscreen and also a hat that will shade your face and neck.

The bottom line is you should not bring more than you can personally carry through the airports and also to the hotel. There might be times that you will need to carry all of your luggage personally to and from the hotel; and to and from the bus and through the airports and on the boats. For example today everyone in our group had to move all of our possessions about 4 or blocks from where the bus had to drop us off and the hotel. Remember to bring some liquid soap so you can wash out clothes.

Pack your bags early and then go back the next day and take out about half. You don't need as many clothes as you might think. Also pack enough stuff in your carrying on that you could survive with out your main bag for a few days just in case your bag is lost or delayed. For example my bag was misplaced and I had to live without my bag for 6 days. That is an extreme case but it could happen. If you can you might pack with a friend and each carry half of the others clothes just in case one bag is lost you will still have enough to get along.

Bring good walking shoes. We will be doing a lot of walking.

2. Bring shorts for Greece but also long pants for Turkey, when we are going to enter a mosque or a church everyone will need long pants and shirts that cover shoulders .

3. You can buy international calling card in Greece for about 5 euros and talk for more than an hour. This is a good deal. Turkey I think has similar cards too.

4. Bring lots of film and a camera or if a digital bring memory cards and batteries for your camera. Do not forget a battery charger that can handle 240volts most will say power 240 to 110 accepted. You will need an adapter for for the outlets, it is 2 prong in Greece and I think the same in Turkey you can bring a universal plug adapter at WalMart or Radio Shack and elsewhere. Remember a plug adapter does NOT change the volts for that you will need a transformer.

5. You can get access to internet cafes but sometimes they are slow and expensive. But still to check you email they work well in most places. Be sure you are using some web-based email and that you have email address entered in the web mail or with you (also any important phone numbers)