My Piece of Crete

A little tour around my place in Crete.

Parents Visit London!

My parents came to visit me in England!

The first day of their visit we took the Tube to Westminster and upon exiting I told them to "look up" for their first view of Big Ben. About half a minute later, it started to ring. We then explored Westminster Abbey fully, and they liked it so much they came back twice for services: one for evensong that same evening to hear the boys' choir, and later that week to hear an organ recital by the head organist.

Mom and I in front of Big Ben

We also walked to Buckingham Palace, just to say we've been, and visited the first Hard Rock Cafe. In the following days we saw Covent Garden, had AMAZING Indian food, walked through Harrod's, visited Hamley's, bought Paddington Bears for the little ones back home, and took a day trip to Oxford to see Christ Church, AKA Hogwarts.

Mom, Tony, and I walking through Portobello Market

I had papers to work on and packing to do, so they visited me for a short time in Reading and went about on their own in London while I stayed behind to get my stuff done. The last day Tony flew in and we all walked down Portobello Market on a gorgeous day. It was definitely a successful visit!

The Epic of Angelo Continues

So in case you couldn't tell from my Ode to Angelo, I've had this flat deal in Athens I've been trying to pull off with a guy who randomly and unexpectantly disappeared for a few days just before the deal was sealed. Every time the phone rang at the house since last Monday, the whole house would echo in cries of "ANGELOO!" and we'd all decided that he must have died on his way to calling me (you should seriously check the poem out; it's legendary). I was considering writing the sequel to my epic in poem form, but I am just too blown away by how EPIC this chapter is that I want to tell it straight, because I seriously want you to know how EPIC this is. Before I go any further, I'm going to swear to you that every word of this is true, and my parents were there as witnesses so you can ask if you don't trust me. Ok, so anyway...

The phone rang today at 153. Reena laughed with the people in the kitchen, remarking on how funny it would be if it were the allusive Angelo. She goes to answer the phone and hears a male voice ask for me. She of course rushes into the kitchen and tells the probably shocked masses that it really WAS Angelo, I'm sure choruses of "ANGELOO!" rang out, and then she kindly gave him my cell number.

Meanwhile in London, my parents and I had gotten a late start for what we were planning would be Oxford. I was trying to get us to Paddington and wasn't paying enough attention to realize that the train we boarded, which I assumed was a Circle Line train, was being used for the District Line. Once I heard that we were headed for Ealing Broadway and NOT Edware Road, I realized that we were on the wrong line and that we had to get off at the next stop to change to the Circle, which just so happened to be Gloucester Road. So we get off at Gloucester Road and while I'm leading my parents to the Circle Line Platform to Paddington, I hear my phone go off. I see that it's a Withheld number and I think about not answering it, but I decided to give it a try.

I hear "Hi Katt, it's Angelo" and I have to stop myself from bursting out laughing or responding with "You're alive?!" Anyway, I'm pretty shocked to be hearing from him (and happy to hear he has an American accent and I can understand him easily) when he says he's been traveling for the past few days and was in fact still traveling now in London. The conversation then goes something like this:

ME: Funny story, but I'M in London right now. But we're heading to Oxford now; can I meet you tomorrow?

ANGELO: I'll actually be gone by then, you see I'm heading for the airport right now. Where in London are you?

ME: (as we're walking downstairs to the Circle Line Platform) Well to be exact I'm at the Gloucester Road Tube stop, but I doubt that helps you any.

ANGELO: Gloucester Road? I'm on the Piccadilly Line heading towards Heathrow right now. It'll be stopping at Gloucester Road in 10 minutes. Can you meet me at the platform?


I swear this happened. So I pull my parents away from the approaching train that we would've gotten on if I hadn't heard my phone, dragged them to the Piccadilly platform of Gloucester Road, where we wouldn't have been if I hadn't been a dope about catching the right train half an hour earlier, and waited to meet the infamous Angelo. Yep, I met Angelo. He lives; I shook his hand.

After we got everything squared away and he got back on his next train, I treated my parents to a reading of my Ode to Angelo, which I had copied on a whim into my journal last night, and had brought with me today for no particular reason.

Angelo, I'm relieved to see
That you have not forsaken me.
I swear this is a true story.

An Ode to Angelo: the landlord who never called back

In a world of lies and dangers
It can be hard to find a friend:
Con-men are out to scam you,
And your trust can not defend.
So there I was on Craigslist
Feeling lost and so confused
When I saw your lovely advert:
Flat for rent, great rate, unused.

Imagine my elation
When at first you sent reply
That I could stay for short-term
Without a price sky-high:
Six hundred euro total?
Central Athens? Lucky me!
It even has a washer,
Comfy beds, a bath, A/C!

Our days back then were shining
With possibilities;
He replied to every email
Fully, quickly, and with ease.
And as we grew together
It was easy to feel sure
That my dear Angelo would be
A landlord, yet so much more.
A man, a friend, a renter
Who pulls up when you feel down
And always replies quickly
To emails about the town.

‘Everything looks great,’ he said,
After weeks of connecting.
‘Just one call to finalize
And you’ll be a proud rentee.’
But, alas!, dear Angelo,
I fear twas not to be,
For though you promised you would call
No such call did I receive.

‘I do not understand!’ I cried
‘Perhaps he’s lost his phone?
Maybe he’s been ailed by fate
And left me here alone.
Angelo, sweet Angelo!
My tears for you fall free
For it is clear some awful wreck
Has taken you from me.’

‘I just have a meeting,’
Were the last words that he said,
But that meeting ended Monday
And now I fear that you dead.

Tis the only explanation
If one really thinks it through;
Angelo, I shudder
To think of what killed you.
I dare not to imagine
The horror of that scene:
As Angelo lies dying
From broken heart and ruptur’d spleen.
He reaches towards the doctor
And struggles to tell him that
He must survive this awful crash
So he can go call Katt.


Oh Angelo, why have you forsaken me??

The Cavern Club

The first thing we heard upon entering The Cavern Club. And at that moment I knew I'd found something awesome.

Soon after settling all of our stuff, they started playing Johnny B. Goode, and the swing couples showed off their moves.

More Beatles love in the Cavern Club.

Just to prove how AWESOME our DJs were, here they are doing the Dan Akyrod dance from Blues Brothers.

Sem Trip #2

Sam & I in the Cavern Club

Our second Sem Trip was to Liverpool! The Ivys provided a full list of things we could do during our free hours, but in all honesty I couldn't wait to get to all the Beatles related places I could manage! Being raised in a household that instilled the importance of Paul, John, George, and Ringo, this opportunity was a dream come true.

Before we reached Liverpool, we stopped at Blisthill, town that's preserved its Victorian heritage the same way that Jamestown preserved its colonial roots. The whole town is authentically Victorian, and it had a full staff dressed to impress in Victorian garb, along with many shoppes and activites to explore. We saw a candel maker, a carpentor, a dress maker, a banker, a pharmacist, and many more; we were even treated to a performance of Romeo and Juliette in the streets. The best experience by far, though, was the vintage photo shoppe. I would tell you why, but I think I'll let this picture speak for itself.

After Blisthill, we made a short detour to Iron Bridge, home of the first iron bridge in the world, and of course therefore the oldest. It was actually a very pretty bridge, and we totally licked it. It was legendary.

The first day in Liverpool was spent at Liverpool Cathedral: the largest in England and I believe the 4th or 5th largest in the world! Needless to say, it was pretty huge. You could also climb to the top of the tower and get a full view of Liverpool. We did this, and it was terrifying. I think I was most worried about dropping my camera during the climb up through the too-open-for-comfort bell tower.

After that we moved into our hostel, which was decorated with Beatles decorations. All the floors were named after Beatles songs, and I stayed on the "Strawberry Fields" floor. Yep, it was pretty exciting. We started the day out by going to the Art Gallery in Liverpool, by I and the group I was hanging out with didn't quite feel like doing the whole art gallery scene, so we went to the history museum instead. The museum was actually pretty good, and we found things that Sam and I as Classists and archaeologists found to be pretty amusing. After the museum and a sack lunch, we drove to the Albert docks to have a walking tour with the Ivys which was followed by anything we wanted to spend the afternoon doing. Of course, I took this opportunity to rush off with Sam and start checking things off my "Beatles things to see" list, starting with the Beatles Story exhibit.


It was pretty awesome, and including such awesome things as a mini indoor replication of the Cavern Club--the location of discovery for the Beatles--and an indoor Yellow Submarine.

Yep, the exhibit was pretty much awesome, and all of Liverpool seemed to cash in on the Beatles heritage; they had a Yellow Duckmarine (a car that could drive into the port) and a Magical Mystery Tour Bus. It would've been cheesy if I wasn't so excited about it all.

That evening we also had off to do what we pleased and I was feeling down because of a cold, but luckily I made my friends promise to force me to go out and experience the Liverpool night life that I needed to complete my Beatles saga: the Cavern Club. We ate at a small pub and battled the hurricane-like winds along the shore as we made our journey into downtown Liverpool for our night out. We finally arrived at the club, paid our £1 to get in, and descended the cascade of stairs into the bowls of the dungeon-like room to hear the ending chorus of Hey Jude, and I was home. We were only going to stay for a few minutes, maybe half an hour, but the DJs and the music that night were SO GOOD that we literally danced the night away, staying despite feeling over heated (none of us were dressed for clubbing) and knowing that we had to be up early the next day to leave. I have videos of the night that accompany this tale; don't miss them.

The Cavern's stage. Can you find the Beatles's mark?

The next morning we were up bright and early to go somewhere that I've honestly forgotten the name of. It was something like Sunshine Hill... I don't know. Basically, they made soap. That was the village's whole purpose. It was an entire village where all the members were employees. It was very feudal and pretty interesting, but I honestly would've rather stayed in Liverpool an extra day. Still, it was a chill end to the weekend made of awesome.