To Crete With Love

I don't even know where to begin with our holiday on Crete. (I know I'm still behind on London, but London can wait)

I don't think there was a day that wasn't beautiful. I don't mean conventionally beautiful, I'm talking just gorgeous to behold. Yes, we did have several amazing sunny days which accounts for my tan lines (you're jealous, I know ;-) ). But we had a pretty amazing thunderstorm that was breathtaking....Even the cloudy days didn't take away from the gorgeous views.

Okay, so here's a brief play by play of the week......

We left Larne on Monday October 6 around 5:30pm and headed for Belfast Interantional Airport. No traffic meant we arrived quickly and got checked into Easyjet very quickly. Fly with Easyjet on a Monday. Cheap. No lines on Monday nights. We wandered around Belfast International Airport for the 2 hours prior to boarding, had dinner, got Mommy meds (I had the sniffles). Flew to London Gatwick. No drama. Well, no drama save the fact that I couldn't get my ears to pop on the plane b/c I was sick, so they had to break out some smelling stuff for me to sniff to clear my sinuses. Brett said it stunk, I couldn't really smell it. It didn't clear my sinuses so much, but it helped releave the pain in my Right ear. I honestly thought it was going to burst my eardrum with how bad it hurt. Anyway, I lived through it and we landed, got our luggage, found our hotel shuttle and headed for what we hoped to be a good night's sleep before our travels the next day.

Hazel fell asleep within moments of boarding the shuttle, and remained asleep all the way to the hotel, throughout check-in, getting to the room, and putting her to bed in her pack n play. She didn't actually stir unti 2:50 that morning. Agony, right? Not so much. We were seriously staying in the crappiest Hotel in Gatwick. Bates hotel has nothing on the Europa Hotel in Gatwick. Don't stay there. Brett and I slept in seperate twin beds (pushed just barely close enough together that if we extended our arms across the gap we could hold hands) that looked like the previous residents had just left and the maid service felt they didn't dirty the beds enough to warrent new sheets and properly made beds. So we slept on top of the bedspreads. And the room was freezing. Hazel was bundled and warm, but Brett and I froze and the beds weren't wide enough to be truly considered twins, so we couldn't snuggle to keep warm....we tried. Long story short, bad hotel. Sleeping in a box outside the airport my prove warmer and more sanitary (and cheaper) than staying at the Europa.

So Brett and I started our trip with 2 hours of sleep. And a well rested toddler. :) The flight to Crete was fine. It was chartered on Monarch airlines, which I was less than impressed with as the staff was boardlined rude, but it wasn't bad. The most amazing part of the flight, though, was flying over the Alps.....
Aren't they gorgeous? They just went on and on and on. I know this in naive of me, but my only experiences with mountains have absolutely nothing on the Alps. Massive, Beautiful. Wow.

Then after a bit more slying we saw the Mediterranean....I'm not sure which islands these were. But they're neat!

We landed in Crete, which I have to tell you, be prepared to be the only American's on the island if you go. And don't be surprised when all the signs that are posted are ONLY posted in Greek. Even though it is an island that relies on tourism as a major source of income, they would prefer if you spoke their language. It took a week to be able to say "Thank you" and "Hello". And even then I really sounded like an American butchering their language.

Also, as you land on the island, don't be surprised to lose bits of your luggage (aka our stroller) and not be able to find anyone who can speak English well enough to help you find it. Ours turned up in the Oversized Luggage (not surprising) which was a little shack outside the main building and tucked in a little side street (slightly infuriating). Anyway, we gathered up our belongings, hunted down our charter to the hotel and climbed aboard.

Okay, so in the interest of needing pictures to show people who may be interested....here's a quick replay of our trip!

This is our patio overlooking the sea...The view off our patio towards Agios Nichalos..

The Mountain view from our patio

Hanging out on the patioOur Whale shaped poolBrett and Hazel in front of the pool and main receptionMommy and Hazel in the FREEZING saltwater shallow end of the poolOur bathing beauty...

Ooops!!!! Part Duex

Hi all! Picking up where we left off....

Sunday, September 7---

We got up early, not hard since we have an alarm clock (Hazel) that doesn't like to sleep past 6:30, and headed down to breakfast in the hotel restaurant. YUM. Cereal, fruit, bacon, eggs, toast, you name it. Then went back to the room, got dressed, and headed out....here are a few things that we saw....

Parliament building and the tower that holds Big Ben (which We learned is the bell, not the tower)A Bicycle race in the city...it was a big event! Lots turned out for it!Okay, so I should know what this circle is that I'm standing on. It had something to do with the Queen and the millenium, and around the edges is a quote from her. I'm actually standing on a pair of permanent footprints, but as I'm a horrible tourist, I have no idea what it is...I'll find out.The London Eye from Westminster Bridge. The large building behind it housed a museum and shops. The happy family in our Capsule of the London EyeParliament and Big Ben from the London Eye

Trafalgar Square (Carli and Hazel in the foreground)Outside Westminster Abbey (It's closed to tours on Sundays..sniff sob)Our little alarm clock waiting to go to the Airport to head home Monday morning!!!!

Ooops!!!!

I forgot to post about London! And that trip happened a month ago!!!!!!

Here's a quick run down of the weekend's events along with some snapshots!

Saturday, Sept 6---Brett, Hazel, and I got up early and headed to Belfast International to catch a plane to London! It was a pretty smooth uneventful trip...even landing in and navigating through Heathrow was easy. We caught a cab to our hotel, The Thistle at Westminster, and checked into our room all within 45 minutes of landing!!!! Gotta love big cities! Then we set off to find my IKnit Day....it was a little confusing trying to navigate the streets of London in the Westminster area, but we got there about 20 minutes after setting out. I had the best time! I knit and bought yarn and (in general) hung out with women about 20+ years older than me...there were a few women there my age, but not many! I got a signature from The Yarn Harlot in one of my books. So awesome. I have to say, very few people actually make me nervous, but I was an idiot around her. I honestly would never have guessed that I would be THAT nervous. I could barely carry on a conversation with her. Oh, well, I suppose it's not that weird that I would be nervous around my knitting idol, huh?

Well, while I was being dorky, Brett and Hazel wandered around the area. It was rainy that day, but they got the chance to see a lot!

Here's Hazel having lunch with her daddy...

Walking through the park in front of Buckingham Palace...This is my favorite...them taking a break in the park....Brett got some really good pictures of the scenery, and I promise to post them later when he reminds me what they all are!

Then they came and met me at IKnit Day and hung out with me for a while to wait for the Alien Competition announcement (I didn't win). Then we headed out. We walked back towards the hotel (it was about 6:30 at that point) to get some dinner. We were all exhausted from the day, but we made a quick stop by Buckingham Palace (it was on the way home) and I got to see the changing of the guard....(we didn't take a picture of the actual changing...this is just a guard pacing)

And I got my picture in front of Buckingham palace (just facing the wrong direction)....Well, I promise to post more tomorrow when Brett is here to tell me what everything is...I'm forgetful like that....

11 hours!!!!

Yay for a full night's sleep!!!!

Hazel went to bed at 8:30 last night and slept all the way through to 6:30 this morning! I am so excited!

Isn't my little redneck too cute??? That's our post-swim-after-our-birthday-party outfit. Mommy, with all the other things getting packed and going on, forgot to pack an outfit for changing into after getting into the pool. So we improvised. The dress is one of mommy's tank tops, it's Hazel's sweater and hat. I think this outfit is a winner!

When it rains it pours....

Well, we're well into week 2 of nonstop drama. If it's not one thing, it's another. But that's OK, I guess it keeps me on my toes and praying.

Monday morning, Hazel and I got up, drove Brett to work, and came home to get ready for Mom and Tots at 10. Well, I accidentally fell asleep while laying Hazel down for her morning nap, which means I didn't get into the shower until 9:40. YIKES!!!! Well, it turns out that it was a good thing that we were running late, otherwise, we would have missed the phone call from our travel agent, saying that our trip was canceled and we needed to come in right away and reschedule. Apparently, the airline we were flying from Belfast to Crete (a Greek Island) was the airline that just went bankrupt. Nice.

If you look to the right side of the screen, at the top of the page, you will notice that we currently have less than 2 weeks before we leave. Which means that when they called, we had 15 days till our vacation. *sigh*

So, long story short, we have spent the past 2 days in Belfast, at the travel Agent's, trying to figure out what we can do to change the package so we can still go on vacation as planned. Our options were VERY limited. Basically, we could keep our original package, only fly out of London (do we live near London? no, we live near Belfast or Dublin...London lies on another ISLAND) and it would cost us almost $1000 more. Sounds like a deal, doesn't it?

NO! Geeze.

Next option was to pick another option that our Holiday Company (Olympic Holidays)--not the Travel Agent--offers for the same time frame. Which was 2 hotels, for more $$ with less stars and CRAPPY reviews. No thanks.

The last option was to get a full refund from Olympic, and reschedule the vacation for another time. Which wouldn't be until next year, and we were hoping to get another vacation in Europe in next year before we move home....

So, in other words, this sucked. Bad.

When Hazel and I went back to Belfast yesterday to figure out if we'd have more options if we adjusted our package options, the nice lady at the agency found us one more hotel option.

Have I told you how amazing God is? How he blesses us every day?

The last option was a room at the hotel we originally wanted BEFORE we scheduled our original vacation. It's at the Blue Marine Hotel on Crete. The reason we didn't choose it before was b/c it was very expensive to fly out of Belfast to Crete and stay at that hotel. However, because that airline went out of business, and they were the only carrier to fly out of Belfast to Greece, and now, no matter what we do, we have to fly out of London, it turns out to be almost exactly the same $$ for the better hotel that we wanted to begin with!!!!

So, after all our stress that the trip might be lost for good, it's back on!

One drama down....many many many more to go....

GIVE ME MY MONEY, YOU B&*TARD!

So, we have new neighbors. They're fun. (Note the sarcasm)

We aren't really sure when the quiet foreign (we think Russian, maybe?) guys moved out and the meth/coke/pot/heroin crazies moved in, but what we do know is that it's been colorful here for the past week or so.

The first of the Crazy Family we noticed was the little blonde haired boy who (I think) lives there. He was cute at first, and now I firmly believe he's the inspiration for the small boy in the Omen. His past times include pounding firmly on our patio doors and/or our front door, playing kick ball in the small courtyard (occasionally kicking the ball toward the GLASS patio doors of the homes that surround the courtyard...one of which is ours). Did I mention how cute he was?

Then, thursday morning, Hazel and I were patiently awaiting the arrival of our lovely Tesco delivery, when someone knocks on the door. It was 10 till 8, a little more than an hour early for Tesco, but I thought, hey, the delivery guy's been early before. So I look out and see a guy in a loud yellow tee, so I leave the chain on, but open the door. He smiles a very crooked smile at me, and tells me he's run out of gas (we pay-as-you-go for our natural gas in these townhomes for things such as the stove, water heater, etc) and was wondering if I had a light. Then he holds up.....


a joint.


Yes, that's right. He wanted to know if I had something for him to light his Marijuana with. I politely said no. He introduced himself as Billy, shook my hand and left.

Weird.

Since then, on a daily basis, the Crazy woman living there has screamed (loudly and with their front door open) at everyone who walks through their door. If she wasn't slurring her words, she'd be screaming so loud you could hear every word. It is absolutely ridiculous her volume. The most colorful was today. She decided that whatever guy was just at her house, owed her money, and apparently he wasn't going to give it to her. What followed was easily 15+ minutes of "Give me my money, you B&*tard!" over and over again, at the top of her lungs.

To make matters worse, every person who walks out of that house looks all cracked out. My heart just breaks for that little boy.

We have just made the decision that either THEY leave, or we do.

I'm looking at a house next Monday....

Popsicles make it all better

Today was kind of a lazy day here in the Davis household. Brett got up early with Hazel, letting me sleep another hour (have I mentioned how I love and adore the most amazing man in the world?). Then I got up, let him get ready to go and play tennis with Matt Rodriguez at the Tennis Club. He left around 11:30 not too long after I got Hazel down for her "morning" nap. She got a good nap, and woke up around 1, full of energy. We played and chased each other around the room and goofed off, then I decided to check something on the computer, so she wandered around touching each toy she owned. Cute.


Then she decided she wanted up on the couch. Now, she's been climbing up on the couches for about a month now (which is what prompted the living room rearrangement), so she's pretty good at it by now, actually, she's pretty good at climbing ANYTHING at this point...anyway, I'm not really concerned about her getting up there, it's being up there and getting back down without injury that we're currently working on.


Well, today, as she was lifting her Right Leg as high as her little hips would allow it, she lost her footing on her Left Leg...it slipped right out from under her. And it wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't fallen face first on the side of a box, and bit her tongue. Screaming, crying, bleeding. I ran over and hugged and cuddled and held her as close as possible, but she was very upset, and rightfully so! I would cry if I bit my tongue hard enough to make it bleed! So, being new at this mom thing, and realizing she should have ice on it, but knowing she's not going to do anything to a frozen rag or an ice cube but play with it, I gave her a popsicle (or Lolly to you Irishmen/Brits). We found some all natural pops with coconut milk and pineapple puree, and she seems to love them. So, after one popsicle, all injuries were forgotten...I even got a hug and a kiss!


Frowns and a whole popsicle.....


Going...Going...Gone!!!! All Better!