Day 24 - Seattle/Siatl

(The second spelling is the transliteration of the Greek version, of course.)

Well, I'm home. Next vacation, I might just have to go somewhere with fewer people. I seemed to enjoy those bits of this one more. Maybe Patagonia? Next January? Where are those guide books....

Since it has now been almost 23 hours since I got out of bed this morning, I think I'll quote a few passages from my journal rather than rephrase anything.

On the ramp down to the plane in Amsterdam:

I don't know if it was because I'm travelling alone or if they didn't like me checking in only 45 minutes before the flight leaves, but they really gave me the third degree. Wanted to see my itinerary, photos. Why'd you go to Istanbul? There are no old buildings on the Greek islands, so why'd you want to go there? Business card? Where'd you graduate from? What does an architect do? Did you take any photos in Istanbul? Where did you pack your bag? What does your company specialize in? Probably the only answer he really liked was that I had no checked luggage. Why are you travelling alone? Don't you have any friends? You've worked there almost five years now and you couldn't find anybody to go with you? Loser!! Well, okay, the "loser" part he didn't say, but the rest he did. Almost to the plane now.

And from 9:30 PDT this morning, on the plane:

The guy sitting in the seat in front of me has rarely sat in his seat. He's been standing up reading the paper the whole flight, it seems. So I should've known better. After the movie ended, I walked up to the lavatory. Three men stood in the alcove, one of them our Mr. Newspaper. The guy who looked to be first in line left, I suppose to find a quicker toilet or ? So then Mr. Newspaper looked to be first in line. I noticed that the lavatory door was unlocked, but that these two guys would know if someone was in there. Othe people showed up. A middle-aged woman, a mother and child, another man. And then a ten-year-old boy. The kid walks right by all of us and opens the door, peers in, goes in, locks the door. The woman and I look at each other flabbergasted. "Aren't you guys standing in line?" I ask. The one man mutters a "yeah," but Mr. Newspaper shrugs and shakes his head No, goes back to his paper. Should've known better. Should've known better.

Last view of Venice, 3:45:



Me being bored on the plane:



Welcome back to Washington: