As I sit on this train bound for the city of Köln, (Cologne) I am reminded that I have not written for a while in my blog. So with pen in hand I begin this entry with my holiday plans. For a brief overview, I will be traveling to first Bremen, with my good friend John, after which I will take a train to Köln, a bus to Frankfurter-Hahn Airport, a plane to Kos, Greece, a ferry to Athens and Crete, a flight back to Frankfurt-Hahn, a car ride to Berlin, Germany for New Years and then finally back to Reutlingen on the 2nd of January. I have just finished the first leg of this trip, which took me back to the old city of Bremen and my original introduction to this wonderful country. I would have to say things did not go as planned, but in the end all worked out. I stared this trip in my home town of Reutlingen on Friday morning the 17th of December at 7am. From there I sojourned through the town of Stuttgart with John to go to my interview at Mercedes. The interview went very well, with a small introduction to the work I would be doing. The work while very intriguing, is not really anything I have experience with but I believe it would be a great stepping stone for me into the world of Database systems. I will have an answer after the New Year, as everyone is now on vacation. Once I was finished with this task, I then boarded a train for Bremen. As you might have heard, we are having an abnormally large amount of snow this year, and apparently this wrecks havoc on the usually punktlich (punctual) system of the Germans. Through the three trains I had to take, I was delayed 3 hours, so what would normally have been an already long six hours on the train became 9. I did not really appreciate this, however I had little choice. When I finally did arrive in Bremen, I was delighted to see my old stomping grounds again. There is a special place in my heart for Bremen and I think there always will be. After a wonderful weekend spent with great friends and a visit to the lovely city of Hamburg, I departed at 21:43 for the city of Köln and am currently in route and should arrive around 1:00am. My bus for the airport departs at 2:30am and then arrives at 5:00am ish. Until then, I, Brent am out.
December 21, 2010. I am currently on a ferry bound for the city of Athens. It is 1:00am and I feel like I should be sleeping, but alas there are few places to do so. In order to save as much money as possible one purchases what is called a “deck ticket” . This means just what it says, you sleep on the deck, one of the three that are offered. This trip lasts from 8:00pm until 9:00am so as you can see I am only half way through and strangely wide awake. The events of the past day have been most enjoyable though, with much time spent cruzing around the Island of Kos on rented mopeds, catching beautiful sunsets and the wonderful freedom of personal transportation again. Not having it for four months has been one of the hardest things I have had to deal with. The ability to simply wake up and say, where do I want to go today? anywhere the open road takes me. Tomorrow leads to more experiences and hopefully even better things are in store.
December 23th 2010
Over the past few days I have seen, smelled and most importantly tasted some of the best things my senses have ever experienced. After spending a day in Athina (Athens) which included, visits to the many Soulvaki shops, the Parthenon, the Acropolis and many other ruins of this ancient city, as well as a 10km walk to the town of Athens from the port, as a result of the strike currently underway.
We then continued our trip to Crete, the largest of the Greek Isles. Once we arrived off our overnight trip on the ferry, we had some time before we would be picked up from a German couple, that my friend Craig, had become acquainted with. During this time we took a chance to visit a castle fortress on the seaboard from the Byzantine era. We stretched out in the sun and took as much in as we could, until The couple, Roland and Manuela, picked us up from the bus station in Rythemno, Crete. After a short car ride we were in the mountains of Crete, surrounded by beautiful scenery and the incredible ever-present smell of olive trees. We stopped in Spili for some of the best coffee and sweets that I have ever had. We also drank from the fresh mountain water that flowed through an ancient aquifer. After this we then continued to the home bass of our hosts, through the breathtaking vistas that the mountain passes and dirt roads provided. The town we ended up in was Triopetra, a land of beautiful beaches and the warmest part of Crete. It was 22 c when we drove in at 3:00pm and the cliffs of Triopetra were calling for a nice plunge into the Mediterranean. Before we did this however we got the chance to meet a native Cretan that welcomed his old friends and us, the newcomers. After a quick chat, we hiked over to the cliffs and plunged in. Every time I am on the edge of a cliff, waiting to jump in a get a sense of exhilaration that cannot be rivaled. We topped this day off with a homemade Cretan meal and fresh Raki, a traditional Cretan drink, after which we drove home and shared some wonderful 14 year scotch from our wonderful host, and hit the hay. 
December 24th, 2010
Today I woke up, greeted with the sound of birds singing out my window and rustling in the kitchen of my breakfast being made. After a delicious meal on the deck, taking as much advantage of the sun I could, we were interrupted by the landlord of the house we were staying in, bringing us fresh olive oil, and Christmas sweets. We thanked them for this with a, efalisto, and then tried the goods, which were wonderful. After we finished this wonderful mid-morning snack, we drove to first the town of Sivas, for a delicious lunch of goat, beef, squid, and lamb prepared in different sauces. The flavors I tasted could only be rivaled by some of the finest restaurants I have eaten and even then, there was a certain freshness to the food that could not be duplicated. We finished out time before out ferry back to Pireaus, with a visit to the hippy town of Matala, which as most of Greece at this time is pretty dead. We stopped and had a wonderful glass of Mountain Tea, a local specialty and soaked up the last few rays of the fleeting rays of sun. Our final leg of the trip took us to the bus stop of Mires and then to Heraklion. In Heraklion, Christmas spirit was in the air, with open air choirs and fake Christmas trees lining the streets. After some navigating through the roads to the harbor, we found some internet and called the folks back home to wish them a Merry Christmas and tell them we missed them very much. I would have to say that this Christmas held many firsts for me, but this was the first Christmas that I was not able to see my family, and it was much harder than I had imagined. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, I guess? Once on the ferry, a familiar scenario transpired. Search for a seat, save said seat, try to get some sleep. End of Christmas Eve.
December 25, 2010
Started the day out by arriving at 5:30 into Pireaus, we talked to the families again and waited for It’s a Wonderful Life to download, as I realized that I needed at least one constant for the Christmas Season. It being Christmas day, our thought process was, we had already seen Athens, Nothing would be open for the next couple of days anyway. This being the case we determined that a trip to the nearby island of Agena would be better for our plans of camping out for the night. After a very successful fire was built we cooked up some sausage and Pasta with very minimal materials and both of us were quite impressed with how they had turned out. We then settled down to watch It’s a Wonderful Life and take in the beauty of the moment. Merry Christmas, Greece.
December 26th
Awaking to the sounds of the waves lapping on the shore, I had to do a quick double take of where I was. Ah yes, I remember now, Greece, on a beach, watching the sunrise, sadly my last full day in this little slice of heaven. The events up to this point have been pretty uneventful, ferry ride back to Pireus, quick check of the ol’internet and jump on the next ferry bound for the Island of Kos an our flight back to the frigid lands of the North. While I am very sad to be leaving this place, I am a little excited to be going back for more adventures this New Years when I travel to Berlin to ring in 2011. 
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